Savannah picks emancipated Black woman to replace name of slavery advocate on historic square

By RUSS BYNUM
Associated Press

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Leaders of Georgia’s oldest city have made history by voting to name one of Savannah’s treasured downtown squares for a Black woman who taught formerly enslaved people to read and write. The Savannah city council voted Tuesday night to put Susie King Taylor’s name on a public space that for 170 years was named for John C. Calhoun, a former U.S. vice president who vocally supported slavery. City officials stripped Calhoun’s name from the square last November, then spent the past nine months collecting and reviewing nominees. Taylor was born to enslaved parents and during the Civil War fled to a Georgia island occupied by Union soldiers. She started three schools in Georgia to teach emancipated children and adults.