Accessibility Statement Skip Navigation
  • Why PRWeb
  • How It Works
  • Who Uses It
  • Pricing
  • Login
  • GDPR
  • Create a Free Account
Return to PRWeb homepage
  • News
  • Resources
  • Contact
When typing in this field, a list of search results will appear and be automatically updated as you type.

Searching for your content...

No results found. Please change your search terms and try again.
  • News in Focus
      • Browse News Releases

      • All News Releases
      • Multimedia Gallery

      • All Multimedia
      • All Photos
      • All Videos
  • Business & Money
      • Auto & Transportation

      • Aerospace, Defense
      • Air Freight
      • Airlines & Aviation
      • Automotive
      • Maritime & Shipbuilding
      • Railroads and Intermodal Transportation
      • Supply Chain/Logistics
      • Transportation, Trucking & Railroad
      • Travel
      • Trucking and Road Transportation
      • View All Auto & Transportation

      • Business Technology

      • Blockchain
      • Broadcast Tech
      • Computer & Electronics
      • Computer Hardware
      • Computer Software
      • Data Analytics
      • Electronic Commerce
      • Electronic Components
      • Electronic Design Automation
      • Financial Technology
      • High Tech Security
      • Internet Technology
      • Nanotechnology
      • Networks
      • Peripherals
      • Semiconductors
      • View All Business Technology

      • Entertain­ment & Media

      • Advertising
      • Art
      • Books
      • Entertainment
      • Film and Motion Picture
      • Magazines
      • Music
      • Publishing & Information Services
      • Radio & Podcast
      • Television
      • View All Entertain­ment & Media

      • Financial Services & Investing

      • Accounting News & Issues
      • Acquisitions, Mergers and Takeovers
      • Banking & Financial Services
      • Bankruptcy
      • Bond & Stock Ratings
      • Conference Call Announcements
      • Contracts
      • Cryptocurrency
      • Dividends
      • Earnings
      • Earnings Forecasts & Projections
      • Financing Agreements
      • Insurance
      • Investments Opinions
      • Joint Ventures
      • Mutual Funds
      • Private Placement
      • Real Estate
      • Restructuring & Recapitalization
      • Sales Reports
      • Shareholder Activism
      • Shareholder Meetings
      • Stock Offering
      • Stock Split
      • Venture Capital
      • View All Financial Services & Investing

      • General Business

      • Awards
      • Commercial Real Estate
      • Corporate Expansion
      • Earnings
      • Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
      • Human Resource & Workforce Management
      • Licensing
      • New Products & Services
      • Obituaries
      • Outsourcing Businesses
      • Overseas Real Estate (non-US)
      • Personnel Announcements
      • Real Estate Transactions
      • Residential Real Estate
      • Small Business Services
      • Socially Responsible Investing
      • Surveys, Polls and Research
      • Trade Show News
      • View All General Business

  • Science & Tech
      • Consumer Technology

      • Artificial Intelligence
      • Blockchain
      • Cloud Computing/Internet of Things
      • Computer Electronics
      • Computer Hardware
      • Computer Software
      • Consumer Electronics
      • Cryptocurrency
      • Data Analytics
      • Electronic Commerce
      • Electronic Gaming
      • Financial Technology
      • Mobile Entertainment
      • Multimedia & Internet
      • Peripherals
      • Social Media
      • STEM (Science, Tech, Engineering, Math)
      • Supply Chain/Logistics
      • Wireless Communications
      • View All Consumer Technology

      • Energy & Natural Resources

      • Alternative Energies
      • Chemical
      • Electrical Utilities
      • Gas
      • General Manufacturing
      • Mining
      • Mining & Metals
      • Oil & Energy
      • Oil and Gas Discoveries
      • Utilities
      • Water Utilities
      • View All Energy & Natural Resources

      • Environ­ment

      • Conservation & Recycling
      • Environmental Issues
      • Environmental Policy
      • Environmental Products & Services
      • Green Technology
      • Natural Disasters
      • View All Environ­ment

      • Heavy Industry & Manufacturing

      • Aerospace & Defense
      • Agriculture
      • Chemical
      • Construction & Building
      • General Manufacturing
      • HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning)
      • Machinery
      • Machine Tools, Metalworking and Metallurgy
      • Mining
      • Mining & Metals
      • Paper, Forest Products & Containers
      • Precious Metals
      • Textiles
      • Tobacco
      • View All Heavy Industry & Manufacturing

      • Telecomm­unications

      • Carriers and Services
      • Mobile Entertainment
      • Networks
      • Peripherals
      • Telecommunications Equipment
      • Telecommunications Industry
      • VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)
      • Wireless Communications
      • View All Telecomm­unications

  • Lifestyle & Health
      • Consumer Products & Retail

      • Animals & Pets
      • Beers, Wines and Spirits
      • Beverages
      • Bridal Services
      • Cannabis
      • Cosmetics and Personal Care
      • Fashion
      • Food & Beverages
      • Furniture and Furnishings
      • Home Improvement
      • Household, Consumer & Cosmetics
      • Household Products
      • Jewelry
      • Non-Alcoholic Beverages
      • Office Products
      • Organic Food
      • Product Recalls
      • Restaurants
      • Retail
      • Supermarkets
      • Toys
      • View All Consumer Products & Retail

      • Entertain­ment & Media

      • Advertising
      • Art
      • Books
      • Entertainment
      • Film and Motion Picture
      • Magazines
      • Music
      • Publishing & Information Services
      • Radio & Podcast
      • Television
      • View All Entertain­ment & Media

      • Health

      • Biometrics
      • Biotechnology
      • Clinical Trials & Medical Discoveries
      • Dentistry
      • FDA Approval
      • Fitness/Wellness
      • Health Care & Hospitals
      • Health Insurance
      • Infection Control
      • International Medical Approval
      • Medical Equipment
      • Medical Pharmaceuticals
      • Mental Health
      • Pharmaceuticals
      • Supplementary Medicine
      • View All Health

      • Sports

      • General Sports
      • Outdoors, Camping & Hiking
      • Sporting Events
      • Sports Equipment & Accessories
      • View All Sports

      • Travel

      • Amusement Parks and Tourist Attractions
      • Gambling & Casinos
      • Hotels and Resorts
      • Leisure & Tourism
      • Outdoors, Camping & Hiking
      • Passenger Aviation
      • Travel Industry
      • View All Travel

  • Policy & Public Interest
      • Policy & Public Interest

      • Advocacy Group Opinion
      • Animal Welfare
      • Congressional & Presidential Campaigns
      • Corporate Social Responsibility
      • Domestic Policy
      • Economic News, Trends, Analysis
      • Education
      • Environmental
      • European Government
      • FDA Approval
      • Federal and State Legislation
      • Federal Executive Branch & Agency
      • Foreign Policy & International Affairs
      • Homeland Security
      • Labor & Union
      • Legal Issues
      • Natural Disasters
      • Not For Profit
      • Patent Law
      • Public Safety
      • Trade Policy
      • U.S. State Policy
      • View All Policy & Public Interest

  • People & Culture
      • People & Culture

      • Aboriginal, First Nations & Native American
      • African American
      • Asian American
      • Children
      • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
      • Hispanic
      • Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual
      • Men's Interest
      • People with Disabilities
      • Religion
      • Senior Citizens
      • Veterans
      • Women
      • View All People & Culture

  • Hamburger menu
  • Cision PRWeb provides efficient communication tools to continuously engage with target audiences across multiple online channels
  • Create a Free Account
    • ALL CONTACT INFO
    • Contact Us


      11AM ET Sunday – 8PM ET Friday

  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR
  • News in Focus
    • Browse All News
    • Multimedia Gallery
  • Business & Money
    • Auto & Transportation
    • Business Technology
    • Entertain­ment & Media
    • Financial Services & Investing
    • General Business
  • Science & Tech
    • Consumer Technology
    • Energy & Natural Resources
    • Environ­ment
    • Heavy Industry & Manufacturing
    • Telecomm­unications
  • Lifestyle & Health
    • Consumer Products & Retail
    • Entertain­ment & Media
    • Health
    • Sports
    • Travel
  • Policy & Public Interest
  • People & Culture
    • People & Culture
  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR
  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR
  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR

Author turned activist launches a petition to remove a Confederate and slave owner names from an African burial ground in Savannah, Georgia

Lauri Lyons and the Rest with Honor organization have launched a petition to rename, commemorate, and build a memorial for the colonial African burial ground in Savannah, Georgia.


News provided by

Rest with Honor

Jan 12, 2021, 12:45 ET

Share this article

Share toX

Share this article

Share toX

Lauri Lyons
Lauri Lyons

SAVANNAH, Ga., Jan. 12, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Rest with Honor Savannah is a historical social justice initiative working to commemorate an unmarked colonial 'Negro Burying Ground' located in the center of Savannah, Georgia. The burial ground was designated in 1763 and is now 258 years old.

In 2017, Lauri Lyons visited Georgia for a press trip that unexpectedly took a divine detour into America's colonial past. "While taking a walking ghost tour of Savannah, the tour guide mentioned a rumor about a haunted African burial ground. That sparked my interest to find out if the existence of the burial ground was fact or fiction," said Lyons.

“Naming an African burial ground in honor of a slave owner and a Confederate, is like naming a Jewish cemetery in honor of Hitler. It is totally unacceptable.”

Post this

For more than 20 years, Lauri Lyons has been a prolific global storyteller and documentarian. She is the author of Flag: An American Story and is the Founder of Nomads Magazine. She is also well known as a journalist, celebrity photographer, and educator.

In 2020, Lyons extensive historical research and relentless detective work unearthed the present-day location of the burial ground. She was also able to obtain a Georgia Bureau of Investigation forensic report about a colonial skull found at the site. The Savannah Municipal Archives has signed an official research statement, confirming that the City only has records of two bodies exhumed from the burial ground.

Lyons also launched the Rest with Honor Savannah initiative and proceeded with community outreach efforts via the local press, public virtual meetings and cultural programs.

Savannah played a major role in establishing the cotton and rice plantations in America, which were fueled by slave labor, and made America extremely rich. The plantations and the enslaved Black people from Africa and the Caribbean that worked on them created the foundation of the American economy.

In 1850 the City of Savannah closed the Negro Burying Ground aka African Burying Ground and redesigned the space as two public squares (parks) - without moving the buried bodies.

One of the squares was named Whitefield Square in honor of Reverend George Whitefield, who was one of the founders of the Methodist church and one of the primary people responsible for overturning Georgia's ban on slavery.

The other square was named Calhoun Square in honor of John C. Calhoun, the fierce pro-slavery Vice President of the United States and the Confederate icon responsible for creating the philosophy of State's Rights, nullification and succession from the Union.

Lyons believes the African burial ground encompasses Whitefield Square, Calhoun Square and space in between the squares. "Naming an African burial ground in honor of Whitefield and Calhoun, is like naming a Jewish cemetery in honor of Hitler. It is totally unacceptable." said Lyons.

As a response to this blatant act of institutional racism, Ms. Lyons launched a petition in July 2020 http://www.change.org/restwithhonorsavannah to bring attention to the burial ground and correct the social injustice. The petition is a call of action for the City of Savannah government officials to do the following:

1. Officially recognize the (2) squares as a colonial African burial ground.
2. Rename Calhoun Square and Whitefield Square.
3. Place information markers in the squares.
4. Protect the African burial ground via the National Park Service or as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
5. Build a memorial for the burial ground.

Lyons immediately began building a coalition of Savannah community members to help raise awareness about the burial grounds' existence and its importance. A Savannah activist said "Lauri is a godsend. Her work and research validated what we always knew locally; we just didn't have the confirmation. We were used to walking downtown and were always told that there was a burial ground there, somewhere. We just didn't know where."

Lyons also reached out to unlikely allies to support her efforts. Reverend Robert Lee IV, a descendant of the Confederate General Robert E. Lee has publicly stated, "On behalf of myself as a descendant of a slave owner and a descendant of a Confederate General, I want to emphatically and unconditionally call for this change to happen in Savannah. The time is now to address what is happening in our country, but in our past as well, and to be honest with it."

Over the years, Lauri Lyons has paved her own path and pioneered along the way. In light of her extraordinary discovery, Lyons is now the Executive Director of the Rest with Honor not-for-profit organization, working for social justice and cultural preservation. The organization is now gathering petition signatures to legally rename the squares.

Savannah's African Burying Ground is central to America's narrative about race, religion, and war. It deserves to be officially commemorated because it is a major part of American History. Black lives matter in the past and present.

To sign the Rest with Honor Savannah Initiative visit: http://www.change.org/restwithhonorsavannah. Follow the movement on Facebook and Instagram @restwithhonorsavannah

Media Contact

Lauri Lyons, Rest with Honor, +1 646-249-8327, [email protected]

Facebook

SOURCE Rest with Honor

Modal title

Savannah Cotton Plantation
Savannah Cotton Plantation
Rest with Honor
Rest with Honor
Lauri Lyons
Lauri Lyons
Savannah Cotton Plantation Rest with Honor Lauri Lyons

Contact PRWeb

  • 11AM ET Sunday – 8PM ET Friday
  • Contact Us

About PRWeb

  • About PRWeb
  • Partners
  • Partnership Programs
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Resources

Why PRWeb

  • Why PRWeb
  • How It Works
  • Who Uses It
  • Pricing

Accounts

  • Create a Free Account
  • Log in
  • Contact Us

Do not sell or share my personal information:

  • Submit via [email protected] 
  • Call Privacy toll-free: 877-297-8921

Contact Cision

Products

About

My Services
  • All News Releases
  • Online Member Center
  • ProfNet
Cision Distribution Helpline
888-776-0942
  • Legal
  • Site Map
  • RSS
  • Cookie Settings
Copyright © 2025 Cision US Inc.