The Other Half Of The Story

The Story
Savannah
Squares
Slavery in the City
Untold Truths Beneath the Surface
Acknowledging History Today

Slavery in
the City
When you think of Savannah Georgia you think of cobbled streets, horse drawn carriages,
Spanish moss, and history older than America. When you visit that is exactly what you get.
Walking through its many squares, Savannah tells a story of war heroes and Founding Fathers.
About the industries that made America and the innovators who designed the future. What you
don’t see, however, are the people who built it. By 1750 Savannah’s population was composed
of 3,034 white citizens and 371 slaves, a number that was rapidly growing. The mark slavery
left in Savannah is one of the largest in the country, but like many scars it has been well
disguised with an easier story to tell.
Despite Savannah’s initial abstention from the slave trade it wasn’t long before
enslaved people in South Carolina were brought in to clear land, tend cattle, and
labor on farms. By 1740 these poeple were openly sold in Savannah and soon
after in 1750 the already well practiced slavery was legalized. By the beginning
of the American Revolution the 371 slaves of 1750 had increased forty fold to an
unbelievable 16,000. Slave labor quickly became the primary source of economic
success of Georgia and Savannah, the city’s very own creation, relying on it.
With an ever growing reliance on slave labor in Savannah, the city
became one of the largest slave markets in America. On March 2-3,
1859, the largest sale of enslaved persons in U.S. history took place at
Ten Broeck Race Course. Pierce M. Butler, owner of Butler Island and
Hampton plantations, sold 436 men, women, and children to pay off his
gambling debts. This event is now remembered as the Weeping Time
commemorated by a single plaque on a small plot of land 2 miles from
the location of its actual happening.

The Weeping Time is not the only instance of slavery to be undermined or blatently ignored in the city’s
history. Many of the squares in Savannah played a significant role in supporting the institution of slavery,
the first being Wright Square.
Wright Square is one of 4 original squares laid out by Oglethorope in 1733, first named Percival
Square; it was later changed to Wright Square after James Wright, Georgia’s third royal
Governor. Within the square a monument stands in honor of William Washington Gordon,
founder of the Central of Georgia Railroad. A second monument, a pyramid of stones,
once stood in its place as the burial marker for the native Chief Tomochichi of the
Yamacraws, a friend of Oglethorpes, who negotiated a treaty for the land that later
became Savannah. The monument was removed in 1883 and replaced by the central
monument that can be seen today. In 1899 Tomochichi’s monument was once again
erected as a boulder of granite that resides next to Gordon’s memorial, despite
the grave remaining within the center.
Before the memorialization of Tomochichi in 1739, Wright Square was
used as a space for public executions, most commonly hanging at the
time. One such execution is that of Alice Riley and her husband
Richard. Both Alice and Richard were Irish servants brought to
America to serve the cattle rancher William Wise. The story goes
that William, awful to his servants, had raped Alice and in
revenge both her and her husband had drowned him with
a bucket of water. He was found in his bed as the first
murder victim in Savannah. Alice and Richard were
both sentenced to death. Richard was hanged in 1734
and Alice, pregnant with William’s child, was forced
to birth the baby before being hanged soon after
in 1735.
Besides being the final resting place of
Chief Tomochichi and the execution spot
of Alice Riley, Wright Square was also
home to the majority of Savannah’s
slave auctions. Considered the
slave trading district, the streets
on and around Wright and
Johnson square contained
the offices and business
places of individuals
directly involved in
the slave trade or
those who made
their fortunes
off slave
labor.

Another square within Savannah’s slave trading district is Johnson Square. Upon arrival and before
being sold in Wright Square many enslaved people were held in Johnson Square for the purpose of
“advertisement”. Posters would be released announcing the number of enslaved individuals for sale as well
as the day of auction. For any persons interested in inspecting the individuals for sale, the location of their
holding would also be provided along with hours for viewing.
Today Johnson Square is known as Savannah’s oldest and largest square named after Governor Robert
Johnson of South Carolina who befriended colonists when Georgia
was first settled. With the illegality of importing slaves from
Africa many of Savannah’s enslaved people came from South
Carolina. As Savannah’s slave economy boomed
it became increasingly popular for South
Carolinians to bring their slaves to Savannah
to be bought and sold within Johnson and
Wright Squares.
Amongst other events, Johnson Square
is most notable for a reading of the
Declaration of Independence on August
10, 1776, as well as a ball for President
James Monroe in 1819. In the center of
Johnson Square stands a fifty foot obelisk
monument for the Revolutionary war hero
General Nathanail Greene whose remains
were moved from Colonial Cemetery to
the square in 1901.
Today the legacy of Savannah’s slave district lives on around Wright
and Johnson squares as Savannah’s shopping district. What once acted
as the central hub for buying and selling human life now houses dozens
of shops for tourists to enjoy. Grab a coffee from one of its many cafes,
discover a good find at a local shop, and stroll through the squares of a
once booming slave economy.

Untold
Truths
Beneath
The
Surface

On the other side of the city in Savannah’s southern historic district
resides a second story to be told beneath the grounds of Calhoun
Square. Just a block from the famed Colonial Park Cemetery,
established in 1750 and resting place for many of Savannah’s first
residents, Calhoun square became a cemetery of its own. While
white residents were buried in Colonial Park or Laurel Grove
Cemetery North, enslaved people and people of color were secluded
to Laurel Grove Cemetery South or, in many cases, within slave
burial spots like the land Calhoun Square now sits upon.
In 1851, as the city expanded, Calhoun Square was created and
named for John C. Calhoun. Calhoun was a South Carolinian
statesman who served as Vice President under President John
Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. Amonst other things he was
a champion for states rights and spent much of his life uniting the
south against abolitionist attacks on slavery. In his view slavery was
not a “necessary evil” but rather a “positive good” that benefited
both the slave and owner.

2 blocks east of Calhoun Square sits a
similar square called Whitefield Square.
In the late 18th and early 19th centuries
the land of Whitefield Square served as a
secondary location for enslaved burials. A
major factor in these designated locations
was the illegality of private residents
from burying slaves in their backyards.
In fact between 1761 and 1851 the
slave burial grounds of Whitefield and
Calhoun Squares were the only places
in the city where enslaved people and
people of color could be buried. While
records were kept at one point, the city
stopped keeping track of gravesites in
1855 and many locations of graves as
well as who was buried there were lost
over time. Despite
this, it is thought
that 2 individuals;
Andrew Bryan,
the founder of
the First African
Also created
Baptist Church,
in 1851 as one
and Henry
of Savannah’s
Cunningham,
last squares,
minister of the
Whitefield was
Second African
named after
Baptist Church
Reverend George
were both buried here.
Whitefield. Born in South West England
Whitefield was an Anglican cleric and
Evangelist who was one of the founders
of Methodism. In America he also
founded the oldest orphanage in the U.S.
as well as owned a plantation and slaves.
He attributed the success of his orphange
to the labor of slaves and was an
advoacate for the legalization of slavery
in Savannah. He believed the colony
could not be financially successful without
the labor of slaves to farm the land.
Ultimately his contributions were a major
factor of slavery’s legalization within
Savannah and he saw this as a victory of
divine will.

Throughout
the city of
Savannah it is
not uncommon for
streets or squares to be
named after individuals with
tainted history. The problem
arises when those places were sites
of historical significance for already
underrepresented communities. Calhoun
and Whitefield for example illustrate the
disregard for historical and cultural significance
of the squares to the Gullah and Geechee people.
The overall lack of representation for diverse histories
in Savannah uncovers a greater issue in today’s society.
The question then becomes how best can we acknowledge
underrepresented history in a city that clutches so tightly to its well
established and told stories?

Acknowledging
History
Today

How can we best acknowledge Savannah’s unrepresented history today? In a way I don’t believe there is
one single easy solution to remedy centuries worth of established truth. There is no bandage that can cure
the wounds of history overnight nor a medicine to cleanse long standing habitual mindsets. But the worst
method of healing is to ignore it. Today several organizations and individuals seek each day to educate and
bring attention to the untold truths of Savannah, working towards
uncovering scars of the past and creating a
future of diverse history.
One such organization
is the Center for Jubilee
founded by Patt Gunn
and Rosalyn Rouse. The
center each year puts
on Jubilee Freedom Day
commemorating the day union
troops arrived in Savannah
to enforce the Emancipation
Proclamation. For the past
7 years Jubilee Freedom Day
has been about celebration and
education amongst the Gullah
Geechee community, as well as
reconciliation for those lost. In
2020, however, the center called
for something more, the renaming
of Calhoun and Whitefield Squares
to Sankofa Square, a Ghanan Bird,
and Jubilee Square. Not only would the
renaming of the squares increase historical
representation within the city, but also
publicly acknowledge the squares as sacred
ground for the Gullah Geechee people and
their ancestors buried there.
​Another group is artists Christopher Nitsche,
Eric Clark, and Rachel Green. In their recent
piece Human Cargo, located at the Ships of
the Sea Maritime Museum, they seek to bring
awareness to the Savannah region’s role in the
African diaspora. The deconstructed hull, illustrated
sails, and molded hands beneath a reflection pool
represent the tens of hundreds of slaves carried over
the Atlantic to be sold at auction and those who died
during the journey. Part of work description attests that
10 - 15% of captives died during the oceanic journey
and another 15 - 30% in Africa during preparation. For
every 100 captives, 40 never made it to America.

Finally in a city full of tours and museums Telfair Museum and the Owen Thomas House
offer one of the most extensive looks into slavery’s role within Savannah history. Tours of
the home provide insights into the lives of both free and enslaved individuals that lived
there. Telfair Museums consistently display a variety of exhibitions by black artists as well
as showcases dedicated to Slavery in Savannah with articles commited to exploring the
history of slavery and how its effects can still be seen in Savannah today. While Telfair still
falls victim to the telling of widespread and popular histories, they have taken major steps
to ensure the stories they share are not of a single perspective.
When it comes to history and the stories we tell, it’s easy to forget the hurts of the
past. But to cover up our scars and attempt to forget them leads to widespread
mindsets of ignorance and discrimination. There is no way to change the
past nor an easy way to heal the wounds left behind, but we can attempt
to understand it. By learning about the past, remembering those who
were forgotten, uplifting the voices of communities affected today,
and encouraging others around us to do the same, we can create an
environment of a more diverse history.
I challenge everyone to look around in the places you live. Who
are the forgotten voices? How many sides of the story are being
left unsaid? What scars have been concealed? And what can
you do about it?

We were stolen, sold and bought
together from the African
continent.
We got on the slave
ships together.
We lay back to
belly in the holds
of the slave ships
in each others’
excrement and
urine together,
sometimes died
together, and our
lifeless bodies
thrown overboard
together.
Maya
Angelou

The Story