Virginia Jackson Kiah
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June 3, 1911
Dr. Virginia Jackson Kiah | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Virginia West Jackson June 3, 1911 East St. Louis, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | December 28, 2001 (aged 90) Savannah, Georgia, U.S. |
| Resting place | Hillcrest Abbey, Savannah, Georgia, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Columbia University |
| Occupation | Artist |
| Mother | Lillie May Carroll Jackson |
Virginia Jackson Kiah (June 3, 1911 – December 28, 2001) was an African-American educator and artist who spent a large part of her life in Savannah, Georgia, where Kiah Hall is now named for her.
She was the daughter of civil-rights activist Lillie May Carroll Jackson.[1]
Virginia West Jackson was born in East St. Louis, Illinois, to Keiffer Albert Jackson and Lillie May Carroll Jackson.[2]
Kiah graduated from the Pennsylvania Museum School of Art with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1931. She followed this up with a Master of Arts degree from Columbia University in 1950.[3]
In 1951,[3] Kiah and her husband of nineteen years, Calvin Lycurgus Kiah, moved to Savannah, Georgia.[4] Calvin was a professor at Georgia State University and Savannah State College during his career.[4] In 1959, they opened the first floor of their home at 505 West 36th Street, in the Cuyler-Brownsville neighborhood,[5] as the Kiah Museum,[4] a teaching facility.[1][6][7] The home was built in 1915.[8]
Personal life
![](#/media/File:Central_of_Georgia_Railroad_"Gray_Building".jpg)
In 1992, Savannah College of Art and Design acquired the deteriorating former Central of Georgia Railroad headquarters building and began renovations. A year later, the building was dedicated to Kiah, a member of SCAD's board of trustees between 1987 and 1997.[9]
Kiah received an honorary doctorate from SCAD in 1986.[10]
In failing health, she moved into a nursing home in 1990.[8]
In 1993, she donated much of her art to the university, which held an exhibition of her work in 2009.[1]