James Oglethorpe Monument

The James Oglethorpe Monument is a prominent public monument in Chippewa Square in Savannah, Georgia. It honors James Oglethorpe, the founder of the Province of Georgia, who established the city of Savannah in 1733 on Yamacraw Bluff above the Savannah River. Oglethorpe, a soldier and philanthropist, led the colony through its early years and successfully defended it against Spanish attacks before returning to England in 1742. The initiative for the monument came in 1901 from an association that brought together representatives of the city's various patriotic societies. After years of effort to secure funding and political support from the State of Georgia, the project was finally realized, with the costs covered by state grants and private donations.

The monument was designed by the renowned artists Daniel Chester French and Henry Bacon, who later also collaborated on the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. French created the nine-foot bronze statue, which shows Oglethorpe as a military commander in an 18th-century uniform with collar, waistcoat, boots, and tricorn hat. He holds a sword in his hand, while a palmetto frond lies at his feet. The statue faces south, symbolically pointing to the threat posed at the time by Spanish imperial ambitions. The pedestal of pinkish-gray marble in the Italian Renaissance style rests on a square base, at whose corners stand four upright lions holding shields bearing the coats of arms of Oglethorpe, the State of Georgia, the colony, and the city of Savannah.

The monument was dedicated on November 23, 1910, in a major event that drew thousands of spectators and numerous high-ranking politicians. Before that, two busts of Confederate generals had been removed from the square to make room for the new monument. Today the monument recalls the city's historical roots and Oglethorpe's role as soldier, statesman, and benefactor. You can read the detailed inscription on the south side, which commemorates the founding of the colony on February 12, 1733, as well as the historical marker erected by the Georgia Historical Commission in 1957.