Peter Roe Nugent (1893–September 24, 1975) was an American politician who served as mayor of

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and 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 Brita ...

and as vice-chairman and pioneer member of the

Georgia Ports Authority The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) is the port authority for the State of Georgia. It was founded by an act of the Georgia General Assembly in 1945 and chaired by Blake R. Van Leer. The GPA operates all seven of Georgia's rail and sea port fac ...

Biography

Nugent was born to a prominent

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

family in Savannah in 1893, the son of Nellie Roe and Thomas Nugent. His father was an immigrant from Australia and his mother a Savannah native. He graduated from the

Benedictine Military School Benedictine Military School (also referred to as Benedictine or BC) is a Catholic military high school for boys located in Savannah, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1902 by the Benedictine monks of Savannah Priory, which still operat ...

and

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public university, public research university and Institute of technology (United States), institute of technology in Atlanta, ...

. In 1915, he and his father started a bakery of which he became the proprietor. His sister, Helen Roe Nugent, served as president of the Savannah-Atlanta Diocesan Council of the National Council of Catholic Women. In 1937, he was elected to the City Council of Savannah. On November 4, 1942, he was named vice-chairman of the City Council after Harry B. Grimshaw was named chairman; and on January 22, 1945, he was named chairman. On July 25, 1945, he was elected mayor by the City Council upon the untimely death of mayor Thomas Gamble. While in office, Nugent was dedicated to developing the paper industry in the region, lead a campaign to test all 125,000 residents of the county for

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

and

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms depend on the stage it presents: primary, secondary, latent syphilis, latent or tertiary. The prim ...

in order to treat and eradicate the diseases, presided over a state visit by

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

, conducted a major cleanup of the city after criticism from Lady Nancy Astor that Savannah was "like a beautiful woman with a dirty face" (she later apologized), and secured the establishment of a Savannah branch for

Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a Public university, public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is al ...

(to serve freshman and sophomores). He declined to enter the race for mayor after the end of his term on January 27, 1947. The Democrat nominee for mayor was Democrat

John G. Kennedy John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Ep ...

, of the Citizen's Progressive League which had been in opposition to his administration. Kennedy was the only candidate on the ballot in the general election although he accused unnamed members of the outgoing Nugant administration of illegally inserting 15–20,000 stick-in ballots for pasting on the general ballot. Kennedy won in a landslide and the entire City Council was replaced. From 1949 to 1955, he again served as chairman of the City Council during the administration of mayor Olin F. Fulmer and helped to facilitate the exchange of Savannah-owned

Hunter Field Hunter Army Airfield , located in Savannah, Georgia, United States, is a military airfield and subordinate installation to Fort Stewart located in Hinesville, Georgia. Hunter features a runway that is long and an Airport ramp, aircraft par ...

for the Chatham Air Force Base. In 1949, he was appointed by Governor

Herman Talmadge Herman Eugene Talmadge (August 9, 1913 – March 21, 2002) was a U.S. politician who served as governor of Georgia in 1947 and from 1948 to 1955 and as a U.S. senator from Georgia from 1957 to 1981. A Democrat, Talmadge served during a time o ...

to the 3-member

and was soon after named vice-chairman. In 1950, Nugent helped to secure a $4,500,000 loan from the

Reconstruction Finance Corporation The Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) was an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States federal government that served as a lender of last resort to US banks and businesses. Established in ...

for

Port of Savannah The Port of Savannah is a major United States of America, U.S. seaport located at Savannah, Georgia, Savannah, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. As of 2021, the port was the third busiest seaport in the United States. Its facilities for oceangoing ...

expansion. He resigned from the Port Authority in 1955. Nugent was a former president of the Hibernian Society, the Chamber of Commerce, the Southern Baker's Association, and the Chatham County Board of Education.

Personal life

Lynch married Mary Louise Lynch of Savannah; they had four children: Mrs. J H. Clancy Jr., John Nugent, Thomas Nugent, and Mary Roe Nugent.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nugent, Peter Roe 1893 births 1975 deaths 20th-century mayors of places in Georgia (U.S. state) Mayors of Savannah, Georgia Politicians from Savannah, Georgia American people of Irish descent Georgia Tech alumni