NAACP announces first branch in Columbia County

EVANS, Ga. (WJBF)- History is being made in Columbia County on this Juneteenth holiday.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has announced the first branch of the organization in Columbia County.

Dr. Jamyle Searcy serves as the charter’s president.

“It gives me great honor and privilege to be able to announce the actual formation of the unit,” said Searcy. “I know that in the past, it has been attempted and even prematurely announced to some degree–but this is the real thing.”

This comes after the National Executive Committee of the organization approved the charter for the branch on February 17th.

But Searcy says there were a few other hurdles they had to jump through.

“There was a certain number of people that we had to have to join, pay dues, do the application process, and get them some county information, but we did everything we need to do to get here today,” Searcy said.

The announcement also holds significance because of the area’s African American heritage, which extends more than a century.

Ma Belle Dixon and her husband Paul once owned more than 700 acres in Columbia County, on the property now known as River Island.

They had three sons and a daughter–the daughter married Walter Hornsby II, who is the son of Walter Hornsby, who founded the CSRA’s first black-owned insurance company, The Pilgrim Health and Life Insurance .

One of the descendants of the family, Second Lieutenant James Ramsey, was a World War II Tuskegee Airmen Officer.

Walter Hornsby IV is still living to this day.

Reverend Melvin Ivey serves as President for the Augusta Branch of the NAACP.

He says now that a branch is in Columbia County, it’s an opportunity to work together.

“The only thing we’re competing for is those issues that go against the norm. Those issues where people’s rights are being violated–those are the things that we compete for, and we compete in two different arenas,” said Ivey.

“It’s not about celebration, but about education. The whole idea is to educate the people about the issues in the community so that they can make informed decisions.”

Searcy adds that they couldn’t have picked a better day to make the announcement.

“The reason why we have a Juneteenth, and we have those that were enslaved was for the lack of information–two and a half years after the Declaration of Independence,” said Searcy. “So, we want to make certain that we are doing what is necessary to educate those that are around us, so that everybody operates in liberty—from whatever type of bondage that they may be in.”

The 115th NAACP National Convention will be in Las Vegas, Nevada from July 11th-17th.

The 82nd annual Georgia State Convention Civil Rights Conference will be this October 10th-12th at the Marriott in downtown Augusta.

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