BRUNSWICK, Ga. – Brunswick was a segregated city until the 1960s and Albany Street served as the main historical corridor for African-Americans. An available walking tour of the district begins at the old Wigfall Building -- a lounge at one time -- which now serves as the Brunswick African-American Cultural Center.
Recently, a mural of Ahmaud Arbery was added on the side of the building.
“Segregation is going to be the backdrop or the narrative of everything on the street,” said Whitney Fuller, as we began the tour. “It’s a commercial street for a good portion here and as it goes down, it’s residential. Things have changed the people have been through a lot. The city has been through a lot.”
Fuller, who is on the cultural center’s board of directors, said the goal of the walk is to remind people of how vibrant things used to be and still are. She points out the Roxy Theater.
“It was the African-American theater that people would go to for any films that were out,” she said.
Continuing down Albany Street, she pointed out a nearby home.
“That is the house and offices of Dr. Jackson, who is African-American doctor for the street.
The Brunswick African-American Cultural Center’s director, Aundra Fuller, wants to make sure history won’t be forgotten.
“We have to get outside of our own box and realize that we’re all in this together and we just need to learn about each other’s history,” Aundra Fuller said.
The center hopes to highlight the contributions African-Americans made to the city while teaching the deep history that has laid the path for the future.