1/28/2024

 

Weekly Update 1/28/2024

I finished reading through old magazines at the archives in City Hall, and I’ve been given a new project: scanning letters to W W Law. Wesley Wallace Law was a civil rights activist, born in Savannah in 1923 and died here in 2002. He was a life long bachelor, and avid collector. When he died, he left not only his letters, but artwork, posters, books, sheet music, record albums, and thousands of photographs. The letters I’m scanning now are from friends who were stationed throughout the United States in WWII, as well as letters from his mother and other family members when he was stationed in the army. I am amazed at the wonderful cursive handwriting or soldiers. And that postage was only 3 cents (or free if you were servicing in the armed forces). That would be 54 cents today. And, not only that, there were no zip codes, but the mail still went through! Postmarks included not just the city, but also the time the letter was posted. Compare to today when Christmas cards cost 68 cent and I don’t have a Savannah Post Office – everything goes through Jacksonville – and it can take up to a week or more for delivery. Ah, the good old days.

Back to my lectures again. On Monday evening, I went to hear Stan Deaton give a speech about Thomas Jefferson. He is always, thoughtful, articulate and gives me something to think about about. On Wednesday, I went to TLC for a talk about Benjamin Disraeli by my good friend, Charles Snyder. He is also someone who adds so much to my understanding of historical persons of interest. Both lectures were wonderful. I’m not going to bore you with photos.

I also returned to my habit of giving tours this week. On Thursday, I was at Green Meldrim House in the morning to give a talk of my own at the house. It was pleasantly busy with interested tourists coming to hear about the families and the house. I enjoyed it very much. I’ll be going back for two more times in February, so I feel as if I’m back into that routine.

Saturday evening, I had a ticket for Night at the Museum. I had been to this program last year, and really liked it. Like in the movie of the same name, there are figures in the museum who “come alive” after hours, and tell their stories. This year I was able to learn from Johnny Mercer, Jane Yarn (environmentalist helping to preserve Grey’s Reef), Peter Leopold (grandfather of Stratton Leopold – ice cream maker extraordinaire – and soldier in WWI), Jane Deveau (free woman of color and teacher of black children in Savannah before the Civil War, and also the builder of the house my good friend Helen lived in until she sold the house last October), W. W. Law (leader in the Civil Rights programs in Savannah – see above), an unnamed race car driver (from the golden age of racing when a Gran Prix type race was held in Savannah up until 1911), Lucy Tondee (widow, tavern owner and patriot in Savannah before and during the Revolutionary War), and Forrest Gump (everyone knows who he is). This program is mainly for children, but I loved listening to these stories and seeing the enthusiasm of the kids.

Sports this week: I spent many nights watching the tennis from Australia. I did not see the women’s finals, but the results were not unexpected. I loved watching Djokovic get beat, and then watching the men’s finals. Since I had no preference for either Sinner or Medvedev, it was just exciting to see the match. Neither of the NFL conference championship games went the way I wanted them to. Detroit seemed to be heading for win until they collapsed in the second half. They did much better than anyone expected them to this year, but it was still sad to see them get so close.

I generally don’t like to be late, but apparently, my Christmas cactus doesn’t have the same intentions. Here she is, blooming long after Christmas.