A pioneer in the civil rights movement, Edith Johnson Savage-Jennings has been involved in numerous national, state and local political campaigns and has been a friend, advisor, lobbyist and fundraiser for numerous community, civic and service organizations; a guest speaker at schools, colleges and churches. She has been a White House guest in the administrations of Presidents Kennedy, Carter, Reagan, Bush and Clinton and the driving force behind the appearance of outstanding speakers in the Trenton area. Mrs. Savage-Jennings served as the coordinator of the Mid-Atlantic States Poor People’s Campaign of SCLC in 1968, organized the New Jersey Democratic Coalition in 1964 and in 1977 was appointed by President James Carter to be a U.S. Delegate at the World Women’s Conference in Houston, Texas.

For over 25 years, Mrs. Savage-Jennings was a board member of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolence and Social Change in Atlanta. She lobbied to make Trenton the first city and New Jersey among the first states to declare Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, and lobbied for legislation to create the New Jersey Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Commission where she serves as a permanent commissioner, first appointed by Governor Thomas Kean. Mrs. Savage Jennings is the recipient of now over 100 awards and honors her commitment to civil rights and community service. She was presented with the Congressional Medal of Honor that was given to Rosa Parks in 1999 by President George W. Bush. In 2008, she received the Humanitarian Award from the American Conference on Diversity of New Jersey and was honored by the Princeton, New Jersey Public Library for her social justice activism with a photographic exhibit.

In 2009 Mrs. Jennings was inducted into the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee for her lifelong commitment to civil rights. On February 17, 2011 Mrs. Jennings was honored by the City of Trenton in their celebration of outstanding community people and organizations.