Historic Savannah Foundation

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Historic Savannah Foundation
AbbreviationHSF
Founded1955(70 years ago) (1955)
Founders• Anna Colquitt Hunter
• Katharine Judkins Clark
• Elinor Adler Dillard
• Lucy Barrow McIntire
• Dorothy Ripley Roebling
• Nola McEvoy Roos
• Jane Adair Wright
TypeNon-profit
FocusPreserving and protecting historic buildings
Headquarters321 East York Street [1]
Location
Area served
Savannah, Georgia, U.S.
ServicesPreservation
Key people
• Susan Adler (CEO and President) [2]
• Ryan Arvay (Director of Preservation and Historic Properties) [2]
Website https://www.myhsf.org/

Historic Savannah Foundation (HSF) is a preservation organization founded in 1955 and based in Savannah, Georgia, United States. [3]

Contents

In 1950, the four-story Wetter House on East Oglethorpe was demolished. [4] [5] This, combined with the razing of Savannah's popular City Market in Ellis Square, to be replaced by a parking garage, prompted a public outcry. [6] The following year, a funeral home was set to purchase the Isaiah Davenport House in Columbia Square and tear it down for a parking lot. [5] This sparked a movement to start a preservation process in the city. [5]

"What began as an effort to save one house quickly turned into an organized movement that went on to save an entire city." – Historic Savannah Foundation [5]

Local journalist, artist and activist Anna Colquitt Hunter (1892–1985) [7] formed a group with six of her friends to block the demolition of the house and formed the Historic Savannah Foundation. [8] The group managed to raise the $22,500 needed to purchase the property themselves. [5]

The office of the foundation is in the southwest tything of the Columbia Square, at the Abraham Sheftall House, 321 East York Street. [1] It had formerly been at the Isaiah Davenport House at 324 East State Street. [9]

The Foundation bestows its highest honor, the Davenport Award, on select individuals. [10]

In 1977, the foundation published Historic Savannah: A Survey of Significant Buildings in the Historic and Victorian Districts of Savannah, Georgia .

Founders

Lee Adler, son of Elinor Adler Dillard, served as the Foundation's president for six terms. [12]

Plaques

References

  1. 1 2 Historic Savannah Foundation – Savannah Area Chamber
  2. 1 2 Staff – mhysf.org
  3. ↑ "Historic Savannah Foundation names new board members for 2021" – Savannah Morning News , January 22, 2021
  4. ↑ Historic Savannah Foundation – Savannah Chamber of Commerce
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Our Story – mhysf.org
  6. ↑ Savannah Morning News and Evening Press – Clemson University, May 1981
  7. ↑ Anna Colquitt Hunter – Georgia Women of Achievement
  8. ↑ Toledano, Roulhac (April 3, 1997). The National Trust Guide to Savannah. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN   978-0-471-15568-3.
  9. ↑ Building Data Sheet, Historic Savannah Inventory, Anson Ward
  10. 1 2 Sickler, Linda. "Cornelia Rankin Groves witnessed Savannah's preservation movement come to life and was dedicated to bringing it forward". Savannah Morning News. Retrieved April 19, 2022.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Founders – Davenport House Museum
  12. ↑ BYNUM, RUSS. "Lee Adler, historic preservationist, dies at 88". Online Athens. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
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