The Center for Jubilee, Reconciliation and Healing filed a petition to the city on Monday to rename Calhoun Square to Jubilee Square, the culmination of months of work, research and education, founder Patt Gunn said.
Initially, the group, founded by Gunn and Rosalyn Rouse, were looking to change the names of two squares, Whitefield and Calhoun, which are located on cemeteries once used to bury both free and enslaved people of color.
Gunn said Monday that changing the name of Whitefield Square is still a goal, but they’re looking to focus on Calhoun Square for now. Baby steps, she said.
Letter: Renaming Savannah squares and moving monuments a disservice to history
Savannah is a beautiful city with a dark history, one that should not be erased but held up to the light
Chris Lowry
This letter was submitted by Chris Lowry, a Savannah resident.
The recent news story on the Calhoun Square and Whitefield Square proposed renaming demands more public attention. These changes would be precedent-setting and lead to further name changes throughout the city of Savannah.
John C. Calhoun and George Whitefield benefited from the evil practice of slavery. But suppose this becomes the standard to justify name erasing. Additional square renamings in Savannah s Historic District could include Ellis, Johnson, Wright, Reynolds, Washington, Greene, Elbert, Crawford, Madison, Troup and Telfair squares.
Savannah Morning News
Savannah s squares are, in many ways, a portal to the past more than green spaces, they are a mostly-untarnished window to the nearly 288-year history of the oldest city in Georgia.
But history isn t always comfortable. Contemporary values rarely resemble those of the past, and after a few hundred years of social change, prominent historic figures and the ideas they represent come to be viewed by some as antiquated, unethical, or in some cases, offensive.
Last summer, the U.S. was faced with a racial reckoning. Following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers, protests around the country led to calls to remove several Confederate monuments.