With renaming of square, what’s next for expanding the story here?
The recent christening of Taylor Square changed the cultural landscape of Savannah.
Instead of seeing and reading about a public space named for the former Vice President John C. Calhoun, who was a staunch supporter of slavery and did not have significant ties to Savannah, visitors will have the chance to learn about Susie King Taylor, a remarkable woman who born into slavery, worked as a nurse during the Civil War and then became a pioneering educator.
Of course, the experiences of visitors are less important than the experiences of locals. Future generations will grow up knowing that an accomplished Black woman has been honored in one of the city’s iconic public spaces.
The way in which the landscape reflects the city’s history has been an occasional theme here at City Talk for many years, especially in the decade since writer Ron Stodghill made some sharp observations in the travel article “Savannah, Both Sides” in the New York Times.
Stodghill’s piece drew some legitimate criticism, but it was hard to argue with the central premise: “A visitor could easily spend a week sauntering along the city’s haunting boulevards and leave without a clue about the essential role Georgia’s oldest African-American community has played here.”
In the creation of Taylor Square, city officials followed a circuitous route. Since a majority of adjacent property owners did not support the name change, Savannah City Council removed Calhoun’s name, in effect unnaming the square, and then went through a public renaming process that led to the elevation of Taylor, who had been favored for the honor by the activists who started the process.
Some defenders of the Calhoun name expressed concerns that a change would lead to a flood of similar renamings, but that always seemed unlikely. The process is too convoluted and time-consuming, and the politics are tricky. Having one square named for a Black Savannahian certainly doesn’t nullify Stodghill’s thesis, but it does shift the landscape.
On April 10, the Georgia Historical Society will dedicate a new marker erected in conjunction with the City of Savannah near the Montmollin building at 23 Barnard St. in City Market. Beginning in the 1850s, the structure housed a business that bought and sold enslaved people. After emancipation but before the end of the Civil War, the building became a school for Black children.
It’s a remarkable bit of history that will now be available to many thousands of people each year – and it didn’t require a complex bureaucratic process.
City officials should not cut corners in terms of documentation and approval processes, but the marker at the Montmillon building suggests a clearer path for expanding the Savannah narrative so that the African American experience is more prominent in the landscape.
Multiple names of notable Black residents were proposed during the renaming of Taylor Square, and there are obviously other options as well.
Several prominent Savannnahians have already been honored in some way, as Taylor had been before the square renaming, but the recognition does not feel sufficient. I would put W.W. Law, Earl T. Shinhoster and Ben Tucker on that short list.
The Savannah City Council is entirely comprised of officials who have served previous terms. City Manager Jay Melder has been on the job for a few years and appears to have a steady hand on the reins.
In theory, the political pieces are in place to move more expeditiously in expanding Savannah’s historical narrative. I was a strong proponent of the renaming of Taylor Square and would love to see a few more grand gestures, but the city can likely make faster strides by focusing on smaller changes.
Bill Dawers, a longtime contributor to the Savannah Morning News, can be reached via @billdawers on Twitter and CityTalkSavannah@gmail.com.