City of Savannah to strip slavery advocate's name from plaza

|

November 10th, 2022

A sign stands at the entrance to Calhoun Square in the downtown historic district of Savannah, Ga., on Thursday, Nov. 10, 2022. The Savannah City Council has voted to remove Calhoun's name from the square, which was named in 1851 for John C. Calhoun, a former U.S. vice president and senator who was also an outspoken advocate of slavery in the decades preceding the Civil War. The move comes two years after a statue of Calhoun was taken down in Charleston, S.C. Savannah officials say the square that bore Calhoun's name for more than 170 years will be renamed later. (AP Photo/Russ Bynum)

Leaders of Georgia’s oldest city voted Thursday to strip the name of a former U.S. vice president and vocal slavery advocate from the public square named in his honor more than 170 years ago.

Plotted in 1851, Calhoun Square was named for John C. Calhoun, a prominent politician from neighboring South Carolina, who before his death in 1850 spent decades in Washington serving in Congress and as vice president under Presidents John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson.

Calhoun was also outspoken in his support of slavery during the decades preceding the Civil War. That has made him a target in recent years of racial justice advocates in Savannah and elsewhere seeking to remove from public spaces statues and other honors to the Confederacy and white supremacists.

Related

Top Stories