My love of history and journalism has led me like a magnet to the microfilm room at Live Oak Library’s Bull Street branch. The old articles and ads are a fascinating look back in time. This page is meant as a showcase to some of those glimpses into the past as we try to figure out our future.
Stay engaged Savannah,
Labor Day edition (1989 & 1973)
Sept. 4, 2023 – Thirty-four years ago on Sept. 3, 1989, the Savannah Morning News featured columns by the late-great Jane Fishman about late night workers – truckers making bread deliveries about the time Johnny Carson goes off the air – a WTOC master control operator – sanitation drivers emptying trash containers, Krispy Kreme managers touting the benefits of B-complex vitamins over coffee, and restaurant workers performing kitchen rituals and sharing stories while preparing for late-night diners. Read more>
July 16, 1998 – Opponents aim to block Okefenokee mining plan
The front page of the Savannah Morning News 25 years ago today was about an effort to prevent a company from mining titanium next to the Okefenokee wildlife refuge. After facing opposition to the plan, Dupont and environmentalists had developed a potential “non-mining solution” that would likely involve compensating the company for the titanium’s estimated value, according to the article. Read more>
June 24, 1973
On this day, fifty years ago, the Savannah Morning News local headlines included a dispute between the Savannah Electric Power Co. and a contractor who claimed the company was trying to force home builders into pushing electric appliances over gas fueled products. There was NWA Wrestling match scheduled for that evening at Grayson Stadium. If wrestling wasn’t your thing, you could check out King Kong or High Plains Drifter at the Lucas. Read more>
June 4, 1998
Chillingly, I found that the tragic train accident in India on Friday, which left at least 275 dead and more than 1,000 injured, occurred almost 25 years to the day of another deadly train accident on June 3, 1998 in Germany. The country’s fastest passenger train had derailed and jackknifed when the lead locomotive broke loose, resulting in at least 100 deaths, according to the June 4, 1998 issue of the Savannah Morning News.
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SSU Students turn dream into a reality
On a lighter and more local note, another article talks about two Savannah State University business students, John Skiljan and Joe Stewart, whose business plan led to their purchase of the Bicycle Link, an established business where Skiljan had worked for about eight years prior. Skiljan and Stewart won the university’s Student Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the business plan.
While the Savannah Bicycle Link closed its shop at 210 West Victory St., Front Porch Improv now peddles laughs and good times at the space.
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School budget process goes on
The Savannah-Chatham County school board extended the deadline for passing a 1998-1999 fiscal-year budget from June 17 to June 29 in order to add $1 million to salaries, make a small tax cut and whittle $100,000 from the project $318 million spending plan, according to this article.
Meanwhile, today’s school board recently heard from a handful of residents how the district’s $560 million budget should be organized and prioritized, according to Zoe Nicholson’s Savannah Morning News article on May 18.
The school board is scheduled to hold a budget workshop and two public hearing on Wednesday. The budget is expected to be adopted on June 21, according to this staff presentation.
Fashion you can bank on
I do enjoy these old school illustrated ads. That fat tie is pretty stylin’ too. Belk still operates at the Oglethorpe Mall, for now at least … On Thursday, the Savannah City Council will consider accepting an easement donation from the department store. Belk’s is apparently in the process of selling its property and has agreed to donate an utility easement to the city before closing, according to the staff report.
#stayengagedsavannah
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