Location: In park at Park Ave & Bull St, Savannah, GA 31401

Visited: August 13, 2009, 8:20am

Transcriptions of markers:

East face:

In grateful remembrance of
Stephen N. Harris
who served his country well
as a soldier and citizen
Private, Co. B 2nd Ga. Infantry
1898
Cdr. Worth Bagley Camp No. 10 Dept. Ga. U.S.W.V.
1932
Commander Dept. of Ga. U.S.W.V
1900       1931
Adj. Gen. United Spanish War Veterans
1928       1929
Chief of Staff, Council Of Adm. Ga. U.S.W.V.
1937       1938
His character and leadership inspired his
comrades and fellow citizens.

North face: [Spanish War Veterans’ insignia]

West face:

A tribute to that
Soldier · Comrade · Citizen
William L. Grayson
1870       1941
1st. Lieut. Co. “M” 1st Regt. Ga. Vols.
Spanish American War
Commander Department of Georgia U.S.W.V.
1925 — 1927
National Commander in Chief U.S.W.V.
1928 — 1929
His distinguished service has endeared him
to all veterans of all wars
1946

South face (front):

To those
Georgians who
volunteered and
served their
country in the
Spanish American
War

My impressions: This marker was high on my “want to visit” list for our trip to Savannah, because I found out about this through finding a Spanish-American War memorial in Portsmouth, VA and the linkage made by an editor of The Historical Marker Database to other markers that feature The Hiker, by sculptor Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson.

It is kind of amazing to see something familiar and apparently unique (until one learns the fuller story) in two different settings, nearly 500 miles apart. And that isn’t diminished too much by the fact that I knew I would see it and had planned the visit in Savannah.

I remember, early on in my days at Markeroni seeing somebody refer to “their marker,” a marker near their home with which they felt a strong affinity. At the time, before I’d started being intentional about snarfing (and before I’d logged any markers on the site), I didn’t really understand it. It clicked in for my last month, as I was in Portsmouth, VA for about the third time to find markers. That day I was “on a mission” to complete visiting a series of markers (for the city’s Path of History), but my walking route took me past several markers that I’d previously snarfed…and there was a familiarity that made it almost as though I was passing an old friend, because I had visited these markers, taken their photos, transcribed them, and written about them. So, standing in a park in Savannah, the first time I’d ever done more than drive through the state of Georgia, I felt at home…even though, I still know woefully little about the Spanish-American War.

Markeroni status: Not yet logged (and it appears I also did not log the similar monument in Portsmouth, VA yet).

Credit: Thanks to hmdb.org and their page on this monument for their transcriptions of this marker.

Location: 1900 Abercorn St, Savannah, GA 31401

Visited: August 13, 2009, 6:05pm

Transcription of marker:

The Georgia Infirmary
First African-American Hospital in the United States

Chartered by the Georgia General Assembly in 1832, the Infirmary was established “for the relief and protection of afflicted and aged Africans” under the provisions of the last will and testament of Savannah merchant and minister Thomas F. Williams (1774–1816). Originally located south of the city, it was moved here in 1838. Its fourteen acres included several single-story buildings and small farm tracts for vegetable gardens. In 1904, the Infirmary became one of the earliest training schools for African-American nurses. In 1975, it became Georgia’s first day center for stroke rehabilitation.

2001.16     Erected by The Georgia Historical Society and The Georgia Infirmary, Inc.     25–9

My impressions: I am back from our trip to Georgia and I wanted to start with this marker, because it’s the closest one to the church where we spent most of our time in Savannah. I also like the fact that the site is still in use for purposes related to the ones that were happening more than 175 years ago. It also shows an evolution of a site, not focusing exclusively on any one era. I also have to say that I really like the transparency evident at the bottom of the marker. From what I’ve read, several states require a financial contribution to erect a marker. The fact that the infirmary is listed along with the historical society makes that clear in this case. Though I don’t know what the process is get the society in Georgia to put up a historical marker, I definitely worry that (a) the financial contribution may be more important than criteria related to history in determining where markers are placed, and (b) given that, in most areas of life, “he who pays the piper calls the tune,” I would wonder about whether the infirmary had undue input into the marker’s text. (Again, I have NO knowledge of the procedures involved, so I do not intend to cast aspersions by this post, but to raise the issue that with money comes influence and the reader is appropriately warned in this case.)

The week ahead: Tomorrow, I hope to continue this week of posts about our trip to Savannah with a statue that I’ve seen called The Georgia Volunteer, which has a link to a statue I’ve previously posted about here in Virginia. Wednesday, I’ll write about a marker for a fellow church musician and composer. Thursday and Friday, some posts about some other statues, and a special bonus weekend post will look at markers related to Gordon House in Savannah.

One word of apology, there is a chance that this week’s posts won’t be quite as timely as I’d hope, because we are in the midst of moving into a new place and for the next week, the old place (where we’ll continue to be sleeping) no longer has Internet access.