Green Cove Springs in Clay County, Florida — The American South (South Atlantic)
Augusta Savage - Sculptor, Teacher, Civil Rights Activist
Photographed By Tim Fillmon, November 30, 2022
1. Augusta Savage - Sculptor, Teacher, Civil Rights Activist Marker
Here stood the childhood home of Augusta Savage (1892-1962), a gifted sculptor who fought poverty and racism to become a leading figure of the Harlem Renaissance. The seventh of 14 children born to Edward and Cornelia Fells, Augusta taught herself to fashion animals of clay from a nearby brickyard. A first marriage and motherhood postponed her artistic ambitions. She later married James Savage in 1915 and moved to West Palm Beach. A group of clay figures that she created for the County Fair won a cash prize, and its superintendent encouraged her further formal education. Efforts to live by sculpting portraits of Jacksonville’s black elite failed, but sponsors advised Savage to try her fortune in New York. There her talent earned her commissions and a scholarship to Cooper Union. In 1923, a grant to study art in France was rejected because of her race; her public protest gained wide support. Finally sent to Paris in 1929, she won more honors. During the Great Depression, Savage served as director of the Harlem Community Center, where she mentored many future artists. Her monumental interpretation of James Weldon Johnson’s “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the “Negro National Anthem,” was an icon of the 1939 World's Fair.
A Florida Heritage Site
Erected 2021 by The Clay County Historic Preservation
this page online
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Arts, Letters, Music. A significant historical year for this entry is 1892.
Location. 29° 59.743′ N, 81° 41.374′ W. Marker is in Green Cove Springs, Florida, in Clay County. Marker is on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard just east of Belle Avenue, on the right when traveling east. Marker is located in front of the Augusta Savage Arts & Community Center Museum & Mentoring Building. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1107 Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard, Green Cove Springs FL 32043, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within one mile of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Old Clay County Courthouse (approx. 0.4 miles away); Remember Our Fallen (approx. 0.4 miles away); The Village Improvement Association Woman's Club (approx. half a mile away); Dr. Applegate House (approx. 0.7 miles away); Green Cove Springs (approx. ¾ mile away); Veterans War Memorial (approx. 0.8 miles away); Dedicated To Those Who Served (approx. one mile away); Hickory Grove Baptist Church and Cemetery (approx. one mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Green Cove Springs.
Also see . . . Augusta Savage - Smithsonian American Art Museum
Photographed By Tim Fillmon, November 30, 2022
2. Augusta Savage - Sculptor, Teacher, Civil Rights Activist Marker
Credits. This page was last revised on November 22, 2023. It was originally submitted on December 2, 2022, by Tim Fillmon of Webster, Florida. This page has been viewed 254 times since then and 58 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on December 2, 2022, by Tim Fillmon of Webster, Florida.
