With groundbreaking, South Carolina hopes people across the country will help pay for a monument to Robert Smalls, the Black Civil War and civil rights hero

Basil Watson's rendering of the memorial (Robert Smalls Monument Commission)

The campaign to raise up to $2 million for a monument of Robert Smalls, an enslaved South Carolinian who became a Union hero after commandeering a Confederate vessel, officially gets under way Wednesday morning on the grounds of the State House.  

Officials in Columbia will hold a 9:30 a.m. ceremonial groundbreaking to kick off the Robert Smalls Monument Commission’s efforts. While the endeavor has state backing, it must be paid for through “grassroots” private dollars.

The state that was the first to secede from the United States -- and was ruled for generations by white supremacists -- will honor Smalls (below) with its first monument to a single African-American individual on the Capitol grounds.

Gov. Henry McMaster previously signed a bill setting up a commission that was tasked with coming up with a design and location for the monument. While that has been accomplished, some $1 million to $2 million must now be raised before the monument becomes reality.

At the start of the Civil War, Smalls, 23, was a pilot on the steamship CSS Planter. On the morning of May 13, 1862, Smalls led the takeover of the ship by its slave crew, sailed past Charleston harbor's formidable defenses and surrendered the vessel to the Union blockade fleet. His wife and children were among those on board who gained freedom.

Smalls met with President Abraham Lincoln and lobbied him to recruit black men to serve in the Union army. The former slave served as a pilot on the ship USS Crusader.

Smalls returned to his hometown Beaufort and bought his former master’s home. After the war, he served in South Carolina’s Legislature, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and served several terms.

The congressman fought against the disenfranchisement of black voters across the South, according to the American Battlefield Trust.

The groundbreaking and monument will be on the lawn in the foreground (SC Dept. of Administration)

He also fought against segregation within the military, advocated for compulsory education in South Carolina, opened a school for black children and published a newspaper, among other accomplishments.

Choosing from three finalists, the commission last year chose a statue that depicts Smalls in a three-piece suit, at the height of his power in Congress.

Artist Basil Watson of Lawrenceville, Ga., created the winning design.

The monument site is located in the northeast quadrant of the State House grounds, near the visitor entrance to the building. 

McMaster will be among the speakers at the groundbreaking. State Rep. Brandon Cox will also make remarks; at an April meeting of the Smalls commission, he said the fundraising is “going national, going real big.”

Another view of the Smalls monument area (South Carolina Dept. of Administration)

As the Post and Courier newspaper pointed out, the monument will be on a 22-acre property in Columbia dominated by Confederate memorials.

“Confederate Gen. Wade Hampton, who enslaved people, has a statue, as does Benjamin Tillman, the former governor and white supremacist whose brother George used violence and intimidation to rob Smalls of his seat in Congress before his colleagues eventually removed him from office.”

Watson’s design was straightforward, with a single likeness of Smalls, rising above panels on the base describing his service and patriotism.

One panel includes a famous line uttered by Smalls in 1895:

“My race needs no special defense, for the past history of them in this country proves them to be the equal of any people anywhere. All they need is an equal chance in the battle of life."

Brooke Bailey, spokesperson for the State Department of Administration, told the Picket about $41,000 has been raised so far, with some of that earmarked for marketing and publicity.

To donate to the Smalls monument, go to this page and hit the “Donate” tab.

Click Robert Smalls Monument Commission map above to see where his statue will stand (near the star, on the State House grounds in Columbia.)