Savannah’s housing project that inspired an American poet

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) – In Savannah, many notable things happened during the early 1940’s, including soldiers serving in World World II, thriving jazz music, and developed housing for middle-class families.

Yamacraw Village in Savannah is a Housing and Urban Development-funded housing project that was established in 1941.

It was a vibrant African American community, and the subject of the poem “Go Down, Death” by former National Organizer for the NAACP and poet, James Weldon Johnson.

Johnson was also well known for his song “Lift Every Voice and Sing”.

Yamacraw Village was the second Federally funded housing project in Savannah and was among the earliest in the United States.

The multi-family housing units still stand today, but not quite as strong.

According to the Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission, currently, there are vacant properties, many dilapidated and boarded up.

The commission says there are still residents living there. However, residents in some apartments have reported incidents of mold, broken appliances, and neglected repairs.

The Current’s Julia Gentin says occupancy has decreased from around 90% in July 2019 to 40% in July of this year.

Gentin reports that former resident Chastity Coaxum was forced out of the only home two of her four children have ever known. She fell behind on rent after suffering two break-ins. Robberies, she says, are typical of the neglect that residents face there.

Since 2020, the Housing Authority of Savannah (HAS) announced plans to submit a demolition application to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to tear down Yamacraw Village.

Although some may consider Yamacraw Village a notable part of Savannah’s history, HAS said the property has reached “physical obsolescence” and would not be cost-effective to rehabilitate.