Leaders of Georgia's oldest city have voted to strip the name of a former vice president who advocated for slavery from a public square named in his honor more than 170 years ago.
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.
The Savannah City Council voted unanimously to remove Calhoun's name from the square during a meeting Thursday afternoon. The mayor said it could take a year for city officials to decide on a new name. Calhoun Square was among the last of two dozen public squares established in Savannah's downtown historic district between 1733 and 1851. With towering live oaks and blooming azaleas framing benches at its center, the square is surrounded by Greek Revival homes and two city landmarks — Wesley Monumental United Methodist Church, dedicated in 1890, and the 1855 Massie Common School House, one of Georgia's oldest public school buildings.
In the early 1800s, Calhoun became known as “The Cast-Iron Man” for his unbending support of Southern states’ rights. He called slavery a “positive good” and said in speeches on the U.S. Senate floor in the 1830s that Southern slaves were better off than free Blacks in the North. With his pro-slavery “Calhoun Doctrine,” he led the South toward secession before he died in 1850.
“It’s obvious why the city of Savannah honored his statesmanship," said Calhoun, 69. “He wasn’t honored for his views on domestic slavery.”Savannah tour guide Patt Gunn, one of the leading proponents for renaming Calhoun Square, applauded the council's decision on a day when Tropical Storm Nicole brought gusty winds and occasionally heavy rain to coastal Georgia.
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Georgia city strips 170-year-old honor from slavery advocateLeaders of Georgia's oldest city have voted to strip the name of a former vice president who advocated for slavery from a public square named in his honor more than 170 years ago
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