Savannah State University renames ballroom in honor of former Mayor Edna Jackson

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - Georgia lawmakers and local leaders gathered at Savannah State University on Saturday to honor former Savannah Mayor and state Rep. Edna Jackson, renaming the university’s ballroom in her name.

The room is now known as the Edna Branch Jackson Ballroom.

State Sen. Derek Mallow, D-Savannah, pointed to the turnout as a sign of Jackson’s influence.

“What can be said about a woman who has the entire delegation here at 9 a.m. on a Saturday,” Mallow said.

Lawmakers from both parties attended the ceremony. Speakers praised Jackson’s decades of public service, her devotion to Savannah State University, and her humor.

Savannah Mayor Van Johnson also spoke at the event, calling Jackson an irreplaceable figure in the city’s history.

“There’s only one person in all of Savannah that can say they are Madame Mayor, and that is her right there,” Johnson said. “In these times and days where people talk about social media influencers, that’s a real influencer.”

Jackson received proclamations from Garden City and U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock recognizing her commitment to public service.

Jackson made history in 2012 when she became Savannah’s first Black female mayor. Before that, she served three terms as an alderwoman and two terms as mayor pro tem. As a young woman, Jackson marched on the front lines of the civil rights movement — an experience she has said shaped her decades of advocacy, including her long support of Savannah State University.

Jackson, who is retiring from the state Legislature after seven years representing House District 165, said she didn’t expect to feel so moved by Saturday’s ceremony.

“I was without words up on that stage, and I am never without words,” Jackson said.

She found her words quickly, however, drawing laughs from the crowd as she described how she built relationships across the political aisle during her time at the Capitol.

“I made friends on the Democratic side, but I made a lot of friends on the Republican side,” Jackson said. “How did I do that? I went up there and I said, ‘Hey, baby.’”

The crowd burst into laughter.