Oct. 5, 2023, Historic Savannah Foundation has promoted veteran HSF executive Jeff Freeman to a newly created position – director of operations at its Davenport House Museum.

Freeman will work hand in hand with the new executive director of the museum to ensure that the museum runs smoothly. He will focus on building maintenance, maintaining museum records and collections, IT, and communications.

“The Davenport was the first historic building Historic Savannah Foundation rescued, and we are delighted to see this flagship institution secured under such a stellar leadership team,” said Sue Adler, president and CEO of HSF. “Jeff brings years of experience with Historic Savannah Foundation and a thorough grasp of what the Davenport means to Savannah. That will be an effective complement to the skills of our new executive director, Danielle Hodes, a museum professional whose experience includes the Smithsonian Institution and the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York.”

“I’ve grown to love the Davenport House over my 17 years here, and I’m excited to take on new responsibilities here in the birthplace of Savannah’s historic preservation movement,” Freeman said.

Freeman had served as assistant director and collections manager for the Davenport House Museum since 2007, and before that, he spent a year as a museum assistant and collections manager. He is an Army veteran who worked in satellite technology. He then went on to a 15-year technology career, working in information technology with Hewlett-Packard and the Pinellas County’s Suncoast Transit Authority in Florida. When he joined Historic Savannah Foundation’s staff in 2006, he was driven by a lifelong interest in history. He holds a degree in history from the University of Maryland University College.

The circa-1820 Davenport House was slated to become a surface parking lot in 1955 when a group of activist Savannah ladies fought to preserve the structure, forming the Historic Savannah Foundation in the process and launching the preservation movement that has secured so much of the city’s built history. The Davenport House opened as a museum in 1963, offering programming that in recent years has expanded to include the lives of the enslaved as well as the free inhabitants of the property. Among its features is a gift shop fronting on Broughton Street and a garden which is available as a wedding venue.