Cornelia Rankin Groves (April 23, 1926 – October 31, 2021) was an American preservationist. She was one of the founders of

Savannah Country Day School The Savannah Country Day School (SCDS, Country Day) is an independent college preparatory school founded in 1955 in Savannah, Georgia, United States. The co-educational school serves students from pre-kindergarten through to twelfth grade, and h ...

, in 1955, and was awarded the highest honor of the

Historic Savannah Foundation Historic Savannah Foundation is a preservation organization founded in 1955 and based in Savannah, Georgia, United States. In 1950, the four-story Wetter House on East Oglethorpe was demolished.Isaiah Davenport House The Isaiah Davenport House is a historic home in Savannah, Georgia, United States, built in 1820. It has been operated as a historic house museum by the Historic Savannah Foundation since 1963. The house is located at 324 East State Street, in t ...

Life and career

Isaiah Davenport House, Savannah, GA, US (2)

Cornelia Susan Rankin was born on April 23, 1926, in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

, to William Scott Rankin and Hannay Ellis. Her father died when she was five years old; her mother lived until the age of 98. She was a graduate of Savannah's Pape School and

Randolph-Macon Women's College Randolph College is a private liberal arts and sciences college in Lynchburg, Virginia. Founded in 1891 as Randolph-Macon Woman's College, it was renamed on July 1, 2007, when it became coeducational. The college offers 32 majors; 42 minors; � ...

Lynchburg, Virginia Lynchburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner John Lynch (1740–1820), John Lynch, the city's populati ...

. Rankin married Robert Walker Groves. He died in 2000, aged 82. They had two children: Robert III and Susan. A lifelong resident of Savannah, she fought in support of the

in the city's

Columbia Square CBS Columbia Square (also called Columbia Studio) was the home of CBS's Los Angeles radio and television operations from 1938 until 2007. Located at 6121 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, the building housed the CBS Radio Network's West Coast facili ...

. She was also a member of the Colonial Dames of Georgia, along with her sister, Ruth, and the Trustees' Garden Club. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Groves "rolled bandages and ran the canteen." In 1955, Groves was one of the parents involved in the founding of the Savannah Country Day School, which originated from the Pape School. Groves and her husband were also involved in Scottish Games in North Carolina. In the 1990s, when the Davenport House was in need of funding, Groves and Clare Ellis established an endowment. They regularly met at Groves' home to formulate fundraising ideas, and their goal was $1 million. Groves founded the Friends of the Davenport House in 2003. Historic Savannah Foundation awarded Groves their highest honor, the Davenport Award, in 2008. Groves was used as a source for Polly Cooper and Laura Lawton's book ''Savannah's Preservation Story'' (2016).

Death and legacy

Groves died on October 31, 2021, aged 95. She is interred in Savannah's

Bonaventure Cemetery Bonaventure Cemetery is a rural cemetery located on a scenic bluff of the Wilmington River, east of Savannah, Georgia. The cemetery became famous when it was featured in the 1994 novel ''Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'' by John Berendt, ...

, alongside her husband.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Groves, Cornelia 1926 births 2021 deaths People from Savannah, Georgia Randolph College alumni Historical preservationists 20th-century American women 21st-century American women