SAVANNAH — One of Savannah’s historic squares now bears the name of a Liberty County native.

Savannah City Council unanimously approved renaming the former Calhoun Square for Susie King Taylor, who was born into slavery on a Liberty County plantation.

“It is one thing to make history. It is another to make sense,” Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said at Thursday evening’s council meeting. “Here, we are doing both.”

Taylor moved to Savannah at 7 years old to live with her grandmother, who was freed. But neither freed or enslaved Blacks were permitted to be literate in Georgia at that time. Taylor's grandmother Dolly encouraged to attend secret schools where she learned to read and write.

Of the city’s existing 23 squares, 22 are named for white men, pointed out Pat Gilliard-Gunn of the Susie King Taylor Center for Jubilee. The other is Yamacraw Square.

“I think it is a time for a woman-named square,” she said. “We have an opportunity for a new sunrise in Savannah. We have received calls from all over the world.”

Eventually, Taylor taught the children and the adults in the camp of the 33rd U.S. Colored Troops Regiment to read and write and served as the first African-American nurse in the Civil War.

Following the war, Taylor started schools for Black children in Savannah.

Council members voted last November to remove John C. Calhoun’s name from the square. A one-time U.S. vice president and U.S. senator from South Carolina, Calhoun was a staunch defender of slavery.

Several other names were put forward as candidates to replace Calhoun Square. The City of Savannah received 300 inquiries. To be considered, each nomination had to have a statement of significant contribution, supporting citations and a city council alderman’s endorsement. Mayor Johnson and each alderman could endorse more than one potential new name.

Council members voted in November 2022 to change the name of the square and took nominations from March 28-May 15.

Johnson pointed out that while Calhoun was a U.S. senator and vice president, there was no connection between him and the city.

“What he stood for is not what Savannah stands for,” the mayor added. “He did not represent what Savannah is and certainly not what Savannah wants to be. This council in 2023 has an opportunity to do something that lasts well beyond us in a city that is known for its history.”

Fifteen proposed names met the minimum qualifications and two elected to be withdrawn from consideration. Two public meetings, to let the public know about the process and to answer questions, were held, and three public forums were held by the city’s Park and Tree Commission and Historic Sites and Monuments Commission.

Mayor Johnson also noted that the current council is majority female and majority Black — and that when City Hall was built and opened, women weren’t allowed in its chambers.

“We have gone through too much,” Mayor Johnson said. “We have spent a lot of time and we are going to handle this as a community should.

“This is a process that has been going on for five months. We could have ignored our rules and just changed the name of the square but that not would have been in line with the opportunity that we have.”

The process to remove the Calhoun name from the square at Abercorn and East Wayne streets began three years ago, with a push from Gilliard-Gunn.

“It took courage,” said Alderman Alicia Miller- Blakely. “It took patience. And it took tenacity. You stuck with it and you did not give up.”

Other names considered

The commissions recommended five names each for council alderman to consider. The Tree and Park Commission recommended Taylor, Creek, Law, Seven Sisters and Liele. The Historic Sites and Monuments Commission recommended Taylor, Creek, Carpenter, Law and Seven Sisters.

Johnson said all the recommendations merited a closer look and could be used in the future.

“I hope we take the time when are naming things to look at these individuals and concepts,” he said.

Law was put forth in honor of the late Savannah civil rights leader W.W. Law.. Seven Sisters was recommended for the seven women who spearheaded Savannah’s revitalization of its historic areas in the 1950s, beginning with saving the Davenport House, and Carpenter was suggested for Maj. Clayton Carpenter, an Army helicopter pilot killed in a January 2014 crash. Liele was suggested for George Liele, an emancipated slave who was the founding pastor of First Bryan Baptist Church and First African Baptist Church in Savannah.

The nomination of Susie King Taylor’s name on the square drew nearly 140 letters of support.

Wesley Square, for John and Charles Wesley, elicited 90 letters in support. Carpenter had 62 letters in support of naming the square after the fallen soldier. Carpenter, a pilot with the 3/160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, tried to spare the men aboard his MH-60 helicopter when a tail rotor failure during a night mission, sent the craft into an unrecoverable spin. He strained against immense centrifugal force to cut the engine power.

Jon Ternstrom, who was on board Carpenter’s helicopter on that fateful night and survived the crash, said Carpenter being from this century also makes him relatable to Savannah’s visitors.

“It is time to recognize a new hero,” he said. “Maj. Carpenter is a perfect representation of the military community who love Savannah as their home. He loved Savannah. He was a valued member of this community and this was home. Memorializing him here is the right thing to do.”

Many letters also were written in support of Dr. John Aloysius Casey, who established the first hospital for Blacks in Savannah and died while trying to fight a yellow fever epidemic in the early 1800s.

The last time a square name was changed was 1883. St. James Square was named Telfair Place, which became Telfair Square.

“Public property naming is a process that reflects on our values,” Mayor Johnson said. “So we removed the name and it was well within city council right to do so.”

While council members unanimously agreed to rename the square for Taylor, how to approach its past drew divisions.

Mayor Johnson, in his motion to name the square for Taylor, also asked for a placard to go up on the square detailing why its former name was stripped. A motion to not have any mention of Calhoun or the square’s previous name and why it was removed was defeated 3-5.

“Our goal is not to erase history. Our aim should be to continue history,” Johnson said. “It is important we don’t erase history. The square needs to bear the entire story.”