Seeds & Receipts
Seeds & Receipts

 

Georgia Gilmore

“Some colored folks or Negroes could afford to stick out their necks more than others because they had independent incomes, but some just couldn’t afford to be called ‘ring leaders’ and have the white folks fire them. So when we made our financial reports to the MIA officers we had them record us as the money coming from nowhere. ‘The Club from Nowhere.”
— Georgia
georgiagilmorebrittaniemitchell

(Feb 5th 1920 - Mar 3rd 1990) 

Georgia Gilmore grew up on a farm in Montgomery with seven siblings, and later grew up to raise six children of her own in addition to being very involved with her community.

One of the major ways that Gilmore was involved with her community was as one of the women who coordinated “The Club from Nowhere”. The Club from Nowhere served food on Monday and Thursday night mass meetings during the Montgomery Bus Boycotts in 1955-56. The group collected anywhere from $500-$600 per week to go towards supporting boycotters who needed to carpool and other expenses. In addition to the mass meetings, Gilmore and several other Montgomery women would sell baked goods and food to Black people at nearby shops and from their homes. Georgia was the president of the westside branch of the Club from Nowhere. 

In addition to this incredible endeavor, Gilmore started a catering business from her home in 1956 after her lunch counter job fired her for testifying in defense of Martin Luther King Jr. when the city tried to sue him.

Black women continue to use food as a tool of resistance and community movement building to this day. Check out the Go Deeper and Influence section below to learn more about Georgia Gilmore, and some of the Black/POC women who continue this legacy of uplifting Black and Brown food movements.

Illustration by Brittanie Mitchell for Seeds & Receipts.