Born in Austria, Felix de Weldon (1907-2003) was a renowned sculptor. At the end of World War II, the United States Congress commissioned Felix de Weldon to create the US Marine Corps War Memorial, also known as the Iwo Jima Memorial. The statue, crafted in the realist tradition, was inspired by the iconic photograph taken by Joe Rosenthal of the Associated Press on February 23, 1945. Marine Corps War Memorial was dedicated on November 10, 1954, to the Marine dead of all wars and their comrades of other services who fell fighting beside them.

How is that relevant to Savannah? Felix de Weldon also sculpted a well-known statue in Savannah, Georgia: The Waving Girl.

Florence Margaret Martus (1868-1943), also known as “the Waving Girl,” was the unofficial greeter of all ships entering and leaving the Port of Savannah. Florence, the daughter of an ordnance sergeant at Fort Pulaski, was born on Cockspur Island. Growing up, she was fascinated by the passing ships and waved when she saw them—sailors on the ships often waved back.  Florence went to live with her brother George, a lightkeeper, on nearby Elba Island. From there she waved at every ship that passed— handkerchief by day, a lantern by night.  For 44 years, she never missed a ship, and sailors waited for the petite, quiet woman to salute her as they passed. Few people ever met her, though she became a beacon of Savannah and the source of romantic legends when the story of her faithful greetings was told in ports worldwide.

The Waving Girl statue was erected in 1972 on Savannah’s historic riverfront. The 9-foot statue depicts Florence and her dog waving her handkerchief so that the Waving Girl can continue the tradition of welcoming ships to Savannah.

Both sculptures are powerful symbols of dedication, resilience, and civic spirit, though they commemorate very different aspects of human experience: one of welcoming warmth and the other of heroic sacrifice.

Hop on a boat tour with Low Country Drifters to have Florence and her pup wave to you while drifting by on the Savannah River.