Savannah Standard

The City of Savannah is set to dedicate a new ground marker in Taylor Square on October 21. This event follows the City Council's approval earlier this year to install a granite marker that highlights the square's historical significance.

The marker will be placed in a landscaped area and features an inscription detailing the history of Taylor Square. It reads: “Taylor Square. Laid out 1851. Named for John C. Calhoun, 7th U.S. Vice President. 2022 City Council removed the name Calhoun, a staunch defender of slavery. 2023 named in honor of Susie King Taylor, a formerly enslaved woman, nurse, educator, and the first African American to openly teach in the State of Georgia. Erected by the City of Savannah 2024.”

The dedication ceremony is scheduled for Monday, October 21 at 10 a.m., and community members are encouraged to attend.

Susie Baker King Taylor was born into slavery in Liberty County, Georgia on August 6, 1848. She moved to Savannah at age seven and attended secret schools despite legal prohibitions against educating African Americans at that time. In April 1862, she fled to Union-occupied St. Simons Island where she established a school and became the first Black teacher openly teaching African Americans in Georgia.

Her contributions continued during the Civil War as she served alongside her husband Edward King, a Black Union officer, working as a nurse, laundress, and teacher with his regiment. After the war, she opened a private school for freedmen’s children in Savannah before moving to Boston where she became involved with the Women’s Relief Corps.

Taylor authored "Reminiscences of My Life in Camp with the 33d United States Colored Troops," making her the only African American woman to publish a memoir about her wartime experiences.