Quarterman, Ralph Waldo

State Rep. Al Williams asked the commission to consider allowing a memorial be erected to Ralph Waldo Quarterman on courthouse grounds. Quarterman, who lived from 1918 to 1964, was the first African American to run for a seat on a county commission in Georgia, possibly in all of rural America, according to Williams. Quarterman is best known for organizing the Liberty County Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1952. He also spent time in the African nation of Liberia in the early 1960s to help establish saw mills, Williams said. Funds for the memorial would be raised through private donations.

Added from the Coastal Courier 7/25/2019 JRB