Joel Chandler Harris in Savannah 1870-1876
Joel Chandler Harris (1845-1908), New South journalist and author of Uncle Remus tales,
Free Joe, and many other works, was associate editor of the Savannah Morning News
from 1870 until 1876, under William Tappan Thompson, an established writer of southern
humor. He published comic stories in his Affairs of Georgia column, which was often
reprinted around the state. Rooming at the Florida House, which merged in 1880 with the
Marshall House on East Broughton Street, Harris married Esther LaRose in 1873. The
couple and their two children left Savannah in 1876 to avoid the yellow fever epidemic.
Harris served from 1876 until 1900 as associate editor of the Atlanta Constitution.
Marker is on W. Bay Street near Whitaker St., on the right when traveling west.
Courtesy hmdb.org
