The City of Savannah’s Municipal Archives is pleased to announce that the Clemmons Family Collection is now open to the public for research, following its recent donation from the Thunderbolt Museum.

The Clemmons family collection was discovered in the family’s home in Savannah on East Victory Drive before the structure was demolished in 2017. The records were donated to the Thunderbolt Museum. Now, the City of Savannah has received the collection, with select original awards and digital reproductions of photographs and publications returned to the Thunderbolt Museum for public display.

The collection is largely comprised of plaques, diplomas, awards, photos, and handwritten lecture notes from John Clemmons, Sr. (1912-2012) and his wife Mozelle Dailey Clemmons (1921-2016), who were both instrumental in the legacy of Savannah’s African-American community.

“The Clemmons were transformational figures in this community and Savannah’s history,” Mayor Van R. Johnson, II said. “We are thankful to the Thunderbolt Museum and former Thunderbolt Mayor Anna Maria Thomas for this incredible donation to the City’s Municipal Archives. We must maintain the legacy and stories of those who have contributed to the progress of our society and the community at large.”

The couple moved to Savannah in 1947 when Mr. Clemmons, a Morehouse College graduate, began teaching at Savannah State College (now Savannah State University). He would later become the chairman of the Mathematics and Physics Department at Savannah State. In 1960, he became Director of Carver State Bank and remained on the Board of Directors until his passing. Active in many civic, civil rights and business organizations, Mr. Clemmons won an NAACP Freedom Award in 2003.

Mrs. Clemmons graduated from Spelman College in 1943 and began teaching language arts at Sophronia Thompkins High School in Savannah around 1956. She was a lifelong advocate for civil rights and a steward of African-American history in Savannah. She was the first Vice President of the Savannah Branch of the NAACP and received the NAACP Freedom Award from the branch in 1994 for “exceptional leadership and courage.”