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         Savannah can sometimes be referred to as Slowvannah but in fact we have been the leader in the various waves of economic and engineering advancement. Twice Savannah has been the home of inventions or innovations that greatly influenced the South’s economy. The first took place on Mulberry Grove. This was the plantation of Revolutionary War hero Gen. Nathaniel Greene. Because Greene was responsible for the retreat from the south of the British army after the War he was offered land from the Carolinas and Georgia in appreciation of his leadership. He accepted the land outside of Savannah and made his home there. Unfortunately the Southern heat was too harsh on the Rhode Island man and he died in his first year living at Mulberry Grove. His wife, the socialite Catherine Greene who was a favorite dance partner of George Washington, continued to run the plantation. One of her never-ending guests was Eli Whitney.  While there the Yale graduate was challenged to create a better way to remove the seed from upland cotton. This was a source of frustration for the farmers because it was too labor intensive to make a good profit from cotton. He met this challenge in his cotton gin. The cotton gin would make cotton king in the South and slavery grow as the cotton plantations prospered. It was the game-changer in the Southern economy. Whitney would go on to make his fortune through his emphasis on interchangeable parts in the making of muskets and milling machines but oddly enough because of challenges to or “borrowings” of his patent, he never made much money from his most famous and important work: the cotton gin.
        Since we are on the subject of cotton another unique innovation can be found in what was once referred to as King Cotton’s Palace or the Wall Street of the South: the Cotton Exchange Building found on Bay Street (pictured partly in the photo on the bottom). The Cotton Exchange Building was completed in 1887 and would become home to the cotton exchange of the largest seaport of cotton in the United States. The architect, William Gibbons Preston, was presented with quite the challenge by the state legislature which required of the building that it "shall not interfere with the full and complete and uninterrupted use of the public of said slip." He basically had to build his masterpiece in the air because the builders only had air rights above a public slip; the public owned the land under the building.  Furthermore the city of Savannah said the land under the building had to be wide enough for a wagon and its draft horses to pass through. His design was chosen out of eleven architects and is one of the few structures in the world erected over an existing street.  So next time you find yourself on River Street behind the Cotton Exchange pause for a second to look at this unique nineteenth century architectural engineering feat.
        Speaking of the nineteenth century do you know what is significant about May 22nd ?  Oh you landlubbers May 22nd is National Maritime Day. That is the day on which the SS Savannah set sail from the city on its way to Europe. It would become the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. William Scarborough of the Scarborough House and now Ships of the Sea fame, was the financer. The ship launched from Savannah stopping first in Charleston before it went on its European tour. James Monroe came to Savannah and took a cursory sail on the ship before its departure. It was called a steam coffin by sailors reluctant to sail on it because they did not like the idea of a fire on a wooden boat. When it finally made its way to Europe it was stopped by two European ships to assist it because the smoke coming from the ship made them believe it was on fire. It would be another thirty years before an American steamship would again cross the Atlantic Ocean. Not only is National Maritime Day celebrated on the steam ship’s original launch day but there is a monument (pictured at the top) on River Street here in Savannah in its honor. The first nuclear-powered merchant ship NS Savannah was also named in honor of its illustrious predecessor.
       While we are on the subject of innovative transportation in the present day Gulfstream Aeorospace, a subsidairy of General Dynamics headquartered in Savannah where it moved in 1967, has business jets that seem as though they are setting new records monthly. A few records follow: The Gulfstream GII was the first business jet to cross the Atlantic Ocean nonstop. The Gulfstream G450 became first business jet to cross Atlantic Ocean using biofuels. The Gulfstream G650 set the world record for westbound, around-the-world flight in 41 hours, 7 minutes. Gulfstream was the first private aircraft manufacturer to offer synthetic vision and also was the first to develop and incorporate computer-based, in-flight maintenance review for aircraft. Gulfstream is one of the leading industries in Georgia and has invested huge amounts of money in the Savannah non-profit world.
      Gulfstream has also been one of the chief sponsors of a Savannah organization The Ocean Exchange which pays huge prizes for inventions. The Ocean Exchange was founded in 2010. Gulfstream initiated its Navigator Award in 2011 with Wallenius Wilhelmsen’s Orcelle award, joining in 2012, with their reward prizes of $100,000 a piece for the inventor\s who according to the announcement is "Translating sustainability into value" and the Ocean Exchange review panel is seeking Solutions Inspiring Action; scalable, sustainable and global innovations that are generating economic growth and increasing productivity while reducing waste and the use of nature’s resources. This year, the awards process focuses on renewable energy, zero emissions and new technologies that can support sustainable solutions and give efficiencies in logistics and supply chains – on land and on the ocean. Each applicant is asked to submit a written statement that describes how their solution contributes directly or indirectly to resilient oceans.
This is a yearly competition of The Ocean Exchange. The innovations that have already come out of this annual contest are impressive. As if that was not enough, The BIG Pitch, a yearly collegiate innovation competition, was initiated in 2015, in partnership with Georgia Southern University. Eight finalists are invited to present at an Ocean Exchange meeting in front of 150 delegates from business, NGOs, academia, and government. Delegates vote who receives one $10,000 cash award.
            Yet the person who best represents the innovative and influential nature of Savannah is Charles Herty. Herty was an internationally recognized chemist who revolutionized the southern forestry to the extent that he was called the George Washington Carver of pine trees. But before we explore his “Carverness” we would be remiss if we did not mention the fact that he organized, as a professor at the University of Georgia, their first football team. Now that I have the Bulldawg nation’s attention, let me continue. When he worked for the US Bureau of Forestry he revived the dying turpentine industry by inventing an inexpensive cup-and-gutter system of gum collection. This system helped create better quantities and better-quality turpentine. It also extended the productive life of the trees so that they could mature and could be used as saw timber. This not only saved the turpentine industry but it helped the Southern economy. Herty’s greatest contribution was in the paper and pulp industry. He was largely responsible for studies and leadership that would lead to pine trees that proliferated the south to replace the northern spruce trees to make newsprint. Herty did not live to see the completion of this work, as he died on July 27, 1938. The Southland Paper Mills, Inc. was organized that same year and the mill site was dedicated to Herty on May 27, 1939, and the first commercial newsprint made of Southern pine started production at this facility on January 17, 1940. The pine tree industry still thrives in the South to this day.
        Following the death of Dr. Herty in 1938, the Savannah Pulp and Paper Laboratory he started was renamed the Herty Foundation. Its research continues to this day. According to the Foundation’s website it tests and validates new process and product concepts for industries in a variety of key market sectors including: pulp and paper, chemicals, non-woven materials, and the emerging biomass-to-energy industry. The Herty Center also partners with clients to demonstrate new ideas, develop novel products. Since 2012, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal transferred management of Herty to Georgia Southern University (GSU) to enhance economic and business development in the state of Georgia.
         These are a few of the innovations of Savannah; many more could be named, such as the first refrigerated van, the ongoing work of organizations such as Savannah College of Art and Design and Skidaway Institute of Oceanography. Savannah was the site of inventions by Herty and Whitney that did or still have tremendous impact on the Southern economy. Savannah has been leaders in transportation with Gulfstream, US Steamship Savannah, and Great Dane among others. So maybe Savannah is not so slow after all. 

Savannah’s contributions to the legal system can be partly seen in six distinct individuals. The first is James Moore Wayne. He was born in Savannah and later practiced law here. He would serve as Savannah’s mayor and president of the Georgia Historical Society along with other positions in his time here. He was elected as a United States Representative from Georgia and was a strong and loyal supporter of President Andrew Jackson while in office. It was this support that led Jackson to  nominate him for a justice position on the United States Supreme Court. He was confirmed and would serve for thirty-two years (1835 – 1867) where he was loyal to the recently deceased John Marshall’s concepts that shaped the face of the Supreme Court. Strangely enough although he owned slaves he remained a Unionist during the Civil War and was the only Southerner serving on the Supreme Court who did not resign.

The second individual also served as Savannah’s mayor, Thomas Gibbons (1791-1792, 1794-1795, 1799-1801), for four years. Gibbons was a Savannah lawyer who as mayor welcomed President George Washington to our fair city. He would also become an investor in a New York steamboat company and would hire and serve as mentor a man later to become the renowned tycoon and some say first robber baron Cornelius Vanderbilt. During this time he challenged a state decision giving his former partner (Aaron Ogden) an exclusive contract for steam boating on the New York harbor. This challenge would reach the Supreme Court and would be one of the more important decisions that body would make. The case was called Gibbons vs. Ogden.  Daniel Webster argued for the Gibbons' side and Chief Justice John Marshall would decide that it was within the constitutional authority of the federal government to regulate interstate commerce and this included bays, harbors, and rivers. This reinforced the power of the federal government to intervene in economic interests. This ruling would also lead to the decision that the federal government had power to intervene in the integration of lunch counters and other business activities.

The third individual is Leonard Matlovich who was born in Savannah. Matlovich would become the first gay soldier to challenge the ban on gays in the military in 1975. He was discharged from the military when he came out. In 1980, a federal judge ordered the Air Force to reinstate Matlovich with back pay. The Air Force negotiated a settlement with Matlovich and the federal court's ruling was vacated when Matlovich agreed to drop the case in exchange for a tax-free payment of $160,000. Matlovich for the next twelve years would become, outside of Harvey Milk, the most iconic gay man in America. He died in 1988 of AIDS. On his tombstone are the following phrases 'A Gay Vietnam Veteran' and 'When I was in the military they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one.' His test case helped to bring the decision of allowing openly gay persons in the military.

The fourth individual is Clarence Thomas. Thomas was appointed the second black justice to serve on the Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan.  He was born and raised in Pin Point, a small community outside of Savannah. He went to Catholic schools in Savannah and used the black founded Carnegie Library on Henry Street. His appointment was controversial because of sexual harassment charges and ultra conservative views. He currently serves and has served since 1991. He is mostly known on the Court for his silence during oral arguments although he has written several conservative opinions.

The fifth is the author of a best-selling book about civil rights in McIntosh County called Praying for Sheetrock. It is written by Melissa Faye Greene and tells, from the perspective of the lawyers of Savannah’s Georgia Legal Services, about the struggles and triumphs of helping the Darien African American community claim their rights in the seventies. Although the black community are the heroes the fledging Georgia Legal Services of Savannah were there offering legal assistance. The book has been noted as one of the best journalism books of the twentieth century and is considered a classic.   

The last, Leah Sears, was born overseas in Heidelberg but grew up in Savannah and graduated from Savannah High School. She served as Chief Justice of the Georgia state Supreme Court from 2005- 2009. She was the first African American female state chief Justice in the United States. She was also the youngest to sit on the Georgia Supreme Court. Today she works for a prominent law firm in Atlanta and is occasionally mentioned as a possibility for the United State Supreme Court. Recently she was honored with a medallion celebrating Georgia women at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Arnold Hall.

These are some of the ways in which Savannah has contributed to the legal system in our United States. There are other ways such as the case of Mary Telfair’s will  brought before the Supreme Court, the Troy Davis death penalty case, the Jim Williams murder case that started the Book (you know of which book I refer) and readers could probably list some I do not know. But the point remains the same: Savannah continues to contribute to the larger world in ways we do not always recognize.

​PS Georgia Historical Society, how about a historical plaque to Leonard Matlovich and his contributions to the Gay Rights Movement? After all in a city that has had several prominent leaders who were gay it is about time to make room for the gay community in our history and public spaces.