Every City Has Landmarks. Few Helped Shape a Nation.
As America marks its 250th anniversary, discover Savannah's remarkable place in the nation's founding. Savannah's Landmarks of Liberty brings acclaimed historians and authors to Savannah for a free lecture series exploring the people, places, and pivotal moments that helped shape a nation.
All programs are FREE but registration is required.
Keynote Address by Pulitzer Prize Winner Edward J. Larson
Why 1776 Matters
Sunday, September 27 | 4–5 p.m.
This 250th anniversary year is the time to recount the events leading to the declaration of American independence and to ask what makes the American experiment unique in history.
Sparking Revolution in the Lower South
Thursday, October 1 | 5:30–6:30 p.m. | Woody Holton, University of South Carolina
By 1778 the conflict had moved south, starting with Savannah, where the fate of the Revolution would be decided by groups like the Liberty Boys, who played a larger role than most people think.
Button Gwinnett and the Declaration of Independence
Thursday, October 8 | 5:30–6:30 p.m. | Stan Deaton, Georgia Historical Society
This historically elusive signer of the Declaration leaves behind mystery and conjecture, including the question of his burial site.
The Arrest of Governor James Wright
Thursday, October 15 | 5:30–6:30 p.m. | Greg Brooking, author of From Empire to Revolution: Sir James Wright and the Price of Loyalty in Georgia
In January 1776, Sons of Liberty broke into Government House (on today’s Telfair Square) to arrest Governor Wright, a point of no return on the road to revolution.
Slave Soldiers in the American Revolution, 1776-2026
Thursday, October 22 | 5:30-6:30 pm | Jeffrey Kerr-Ritchie, Howard University and author of Freedom’s Seekers: Essays on Comparative Emancipation
Freedom-seeking took a different dynamic when the fighters were enslaved people of color, or even free Haitian volunteers. Blacks fought on both sides, risking their lives for liberty.
When the Declaration of Independence Was News in Savannah
Thursday, October 29 | 5:30–6:30 p.m. | Emily Sneff, author of When the Declaration of Independence Was News
Imagine hearing the words of the Declaration of Independence not as history—but as breaking news.
In 1776, the Declaration transformed a rebellion into a fight for independence. Historian and author Emily Sneff explores how this extraordinary news traveled, when it reached Savannah, and how residents marked the moment that forever changed their relationship with Britain.
Discover what it was like when independence first became news in Savannah.
Lafayette in Savannah, Greeting the “Guest of the Nation”
Thursday, November 5 | 5:30–6:30 p.m. | Ryan Cole, author of The Last Adieu: Lafayette’s Triumphant Return, the Echoes of Revolution, and the Gratitude of the Republic
Still “less resigned than ever” on the subject of American slavery in the land of liberty, Lafayette visited all 24 of his beloved United States, including Georgia in 1825.
Remembering the Revolution: Greene, Jasper, and Pulaski Monuments
Thursday, November 12 | 5:30–6:30 p.m. | Christopher Hendricks, Georgia Southern University
Savannah’s historic monuments to its Revolutionary heroes demonstrate the gratitude and admiration Savannahians held for these champions of liberty.
