“Come along, my barefoot love— 

Let’s go barefoot in the park.” 

—Johnny Mercer 

The Foley House Inn on Chippewa Square 

Chippewa Square is located in the heart of Savannah’s Historic District. This en Plein air painting presents the award-winning Foley House Inn that sits upon an enviable spot across from the Square, offering its Bed & Breakfast guests a fabulous focal point from which to explore the city. 

While painting this scene, I witnessed two young lovers emerging from the Inn who then walked hand-in-hand through the Square and nearby area. The love-birds reminded me of the Johnny Mercer theme song to the film Barefoot in the Park, starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda. 

The house was originally built as a private residence for Honoria Foley in the late-1800s. Foley later combined two conjoining townhouses to form the Inn, which she managed for a number of years. 

Just a stone’s throw away is the park bench where Forest Gump told his incredible story and shared his box of chocolates with those sitting next to him while he waited for a bus to take him to Henry Street. 

At the heart of Chippewa Square is the impressive statue of Georgia Colony Founder James Edward Oglethorpe. The General appears more than ready, dressed in his military uniform with his sword drawn while facing south, to do battle against Great Britain’s Spanish enemies in Florida. 

In his book Freedom: Georgia’s Anti-Slavery Heritage 1733-1865, author Michael Thurmond reported that the genesis of Oglethorpe’s anti-slavery advocacy might be traced to a young African Islamic Prince named Job ben Jalla, also known as Job Ben Solomon, or Ayuba Suleiman Diallo (1701-1773). 

The young African Islamic Prince had been captured on the west coast of Africa in 1730, and was shipped across the Atlantic and enslaved on a Maryland tobacco plantation.  Job was allowed to write to his father. The letter was written in Arabic and detailed the terrible circumstances of his kidnapping and his subsequent enslavement across the ocean in North America. 

Most Jews and Christians are aware of the Book of Job from the Hebrew Bible. But Job is also considered a prophet in Islam. Each version of the story from the different religious traditions emphasizes perseverance through difficult times by remaining steadfast to God.  

The steadfast perseverance of this African Prince named Job paid off. Incredibly, after passing through numerous hands, Job’s letter was placed in those of James Oglethorpe. Before he founded the Georgia Colony in 1733, James Oglethorpe served as a deputy governor of the Royal African Company, a British slave-trading company.  

After receiving the translated letter written by the passionate African Prince, Oglethorpe sold his stock in the company. He then wrote to Job’s owner in Maryland and re-purchased Job’s freedom.  

Job ben Jalla arrived in England in 1733, while Oglethorpe was establishing the Georgian Colony. Historians suggest reading Job’s letter to his father influenced James Oglethorpe to push forward his anti-slavery philosophy the Colony adopted. But, as we know, soon after Oglethorpe returned to England for good in 1743, to his deep regret slavery became widely practiced in the Georgian Colony.