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.