17 May Twiggs Street Statue and Marker Unveiling
The month of May will be filled with the unveiling of two historical pieces highlighting Augusta’s Black History. At Twiggs Street, the neighborhood of many of Augusta’s African Americans in medicine during the Jim Crow era, local artist Ashley’s Gray’s 15-foot-tall sculpture entitled
“Pillars of the Golden Blocks” centered in the traffic roundabout, pays tribute to the doctors, pharmacists, dentists and nurses of that era. The ribbon cutting will take place at 10:00 a.m. on May 30th at the Twiggs Circle Roundabout.
At Paine College, a Georgia historical marker was unveiled on the campus of Paine College in honor of John Wesley Gilbert, Paine College Alumnus and professor who is distinguished as the first black archaeologist. Dr. John W.I. Lee, author of the book The First Black Archaeologist: A Life of John Wesley Gilbert attended the marker unveiling and also gave a lecture on Gilbert at A.R. Johnson Magnet school.