---
title: "Augusta Savage Historical Marker and Childhood Home Site"
url: https://stacklist.com/card/10624199-7576-4eda-9068-3fa0e7dbcf14
source_url: "https://markers.flheritage.com/home/details/1146"
stack: https://stacklist.com/c/places/stack/d56819f8-ea54-4b17-8b18-554a6a5e2c44
summary: "Augusta Savage (1892-1962) was a pioneering sculptor and teacher who overcame poverty and racism to become a leading figure of the Harlem Renaissance, creating iconic works like her interpretation of \"Lift Every Voice and Sing\" for the 1939 World's Fair. This historical marker commemorates her childhood home in Green Cove Springs, Florida, and documents her journey from self-taught clay artist to acclaimed sculptor who mentored future artists at the Harlem Community Center."
tags: "augusta-savage, harlem-renaissance, sculptor, historical-marker, african-american-artist, green-cove-springs"
key_entities: "Augusta Savage (person), James Weldon Johnson (person), Edward Fells (person), Cornelia Fells (person), James Savage (person), Green Cove Springs (location), Clay County (location), Harlem (location), Paris (location), New York (location), Harlem Community Center (organization), Cooper Union (organization), Harlem Renaissance (concept), 1939 World's Fair (event)"
classification: "reference"
content_hash: "sha256:60384a22bfec634532115a7da6dfc5444a2730ed1ba5df5665588c4d41530b22"
acp_version: "0.2"
token_counts_approximate: 369
visibility: public
agent_accessible: true
status: "final"
---

# Augusta Savage Historical Marker and Childhood Home Site

Florida Historical Marker Details AUGUSTA SAVAGE, SCULPTOR AND TEACHER City: Green Cove Springs    County: Clay    Year: 2021 Location: 1107 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard 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.