We'd like to think it will raise awareness and with that assist in the protection of sites, but it does not guarantee protection. The private, nonprofit agency based in Savannah erected its first aluminum marker in April 1999 at a public golf course in Augusta. The marker at Laurel Grove South Cemetery is the 21st the society has installed since starting the program. Four more markers will be dedicated in February and March, one in Tattnall County at Love's Baptist Church. Applicants must conduct their own research about each site and present documents to the society's eight-member review committee to prove the history.
Applicants also work with the committee to write the marker text.
Society markers are black with silver lettering and a silver Georgia Historical Society emblem. State markers are green with gold-leaf lettering and the state seal. For more information, call Bachant at 651-2125, Ext. 16. In 1853, the city reserved four acres in the new Laurel Grove Cemetery for Savannah's African-American community. This new burial ground replaced an older black cemetery located near Whitefield Square .