3/31/2019

Weekly Update 3/31/2019

Another GHS historical marker was dedicated this week. This time, it was in Midway, GA, which is about an hour’s drive form here. I went to watch the unveiling. The markers reads:

Educator, nurse, and author Susannah “Susie” Baker King Taylor was born into an enslaved Geechee family on the Grest Plantation in Liberty County Georgia. Educated as child in secret schools in Savannah, she escaped slavery in 1862 during the Civil War. In 1863 she married Sgt. Edward King of the first all-black U.S. regiment, the 1^st South Carolina Volunteers / 33^rd U.S. Colored Troops. Moving with his regiment, she served as nurse, laundress, and teacher. After the war, she opened schools for African Americans in Savannah and Midway. In 1874, King moved to Boston, returning to Midway in 1879 to marry Russell Taylor at the Medway Chapel and School located here. In 1902, she published her memoir, Reminiscences of My Life in Camp with the 33^rd United States Colored Troops. Susie King Taylor is buried in Massachusetts.

Three lectures this week: each was interesting, and each was very different. The Victorian Society had a speaker who talked about the collections at the Victoria and Albert Museum, with a focus on the art works of art that the Queen and Prince collected themselves. At TLC, a wonderfully informative lecture about Georgia NOT being at the forefront of Women’s Suffrage, and why, was presented by Roger Smith, who was our guide on the New Orleans excursion. And finally, Armstrong University (now part of Georgia Southern) hosted two speakers who have done extensive study of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Jane and I decided to try Bitty and Beau’s coffee shop on our walk downtown on Thursday. This is a chain, and it has recently opened a shop at City market. The intent of the business is to give work to otherwise hard-to-employ adults who have mental or physical limitations. We were very impressed. If you get a chance to see if there’s one in your area, I would encourage you to check it out. And get the latte with toasted coconut flavoring.

Saturday was the Savannah Home and Garden Tour.  Each year, as a huge fundraiser, the city garden club hosts a 4-day weekend and offers very expensive tours to see inside some private homes and gardens in the city, and also a few select historic areas.  BC is included and I (and 3 other guides) had to ride on trolley from downtown, give a little background info on that ride, then give the usual tour at the cemetery.  And there were some Special Guests - a horticulture expert who talked of the plants in the cemetery, Little Gracie's mom who told of her story and why she is still so important in Savannah and BC, and a widow from the 1880s who explained some of the Victorian mourning customs that would have been followed by the families of people buried in BC.  The weather cooperated and it was a lovely day.

After the tours were over, and I needed to just sit and relax, I decided to go see Dumbo. It wasn’t nearly as good as the cartoon movie I enjoyed when I was little (they changed the whole story, but I guess it needed some changes: you can no longer condone bullying or the racial stereotypes of the earlier movie), but Tim Burton’s pink elephants were really good!