South Carolina's monument to Civil War hero Robert Smalls will rival old statues of white supremacists, and his story will be the one that inspires schoolchildren

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

The loss of a tree outside the South Carolina State House – whether by chance, or divine intervention – opened a spot for a statue of Civil War hero Robert Smalls, who will stand equal to monuments of white supremacists on the Capitol grounds.

The Robert Smalls Monument Commission, made up mostly of legislators, last week unanimously approved a design and memorial location for the enslaved man who first gained fame for commandeering a Confederate ship in Charleston harbor in March 1862.

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

“This depiction is important because Smalls should be viewed as possessing the same gravitas as historical figures such as Wade Hampton, Ben Tillman, James Byrnes, Strom Thurmond as depicted in monuments on the State House grounds,” said white state Rep. Brandon Cox.

The proposal needs action from a legislative committee and a full vote by the South Carolina General Assembly to become reality. The State Department of Administration and legislators are working to raise private money to build the Smalls monument in Columbia.

No price tag has been determined for the project. As of Tuesday, the commission has received $11,530 in donations, spokesperson Brooke Bailey told the Picket.

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

“(Smalls, left) demonstrated from an early age a spirit of demanding equality, feeling that he was equal and capable,” said Watson, according to the South Carolina Daily Gazette. “I think this was the spirit that he carried throughout his life.”

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 the 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.

Brown Memorials of Florence, S.C., submitted this design (Robert Smalls Monument Commission)

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.

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.

As the Post and Courier newspaper pointed out, the monument will be on a 22-acre property in Columbia dominated by Confederate memorials. (Pate Studio design, right, Robert Smalls Monument Commission)

“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 Small 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.”

Suggested text for one of the statue's panels (Robert Small Monument Commission)

At last week’s commission meeting, a state senator at first favored the two other designs, which featured two to three statues depicting Smalls during different phases of his life, including his Civil War exploit.

Others disagreed.

Mike Shealy, who chairs the commission, and state Sen. Darrell Jackson, who is black, said Smalls should appear as other statues on the ground. A separate African-American monument on the grounds provides a wider story with more figures, they said.

The African-American monument on the Capitol grounds in Columbia (Library of Congress)

“The simplicity of the statue of one man on a pedestal who is equal to the other people that are memorialized on our State House grounds is the best depiction,” said Shealy.

The commission also released a map showing all the nearly two dozen monuments at the Capitol. Legislators said the location for the monument became after a tree branch fell. Officials later learned the tree was dying.

Black Rep. Jermaine Johnson said Smalls will stand near the visitor entrance to the State House and will provide a powerful reminder to schoolchildren about equal rights.

And, he said, visitors will be able to see the statues of Hampton and “Pitchfork” Ben Tillman (photo right, Wikipedia) from the location -- a reminder that Smalls overcame cruelties of the racist South.

Tillman, an agrarian populist, promulgated violence from groups who opposed Black rights and voting. A Clemson University biography says of him: "While bringing several progressive reforms to the state, he also was at the forefront of the movement to marginalize and disfranchise black Southerners further in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries." He helped eradicate some reforms championed by Smalls.

According to the Associated Press, despite cries from many to get rid of such memorials, state law requires legislative approval to remove statues of Confederates or white supremacists, or even add language detailing their racist deeds. 

That has been an impossible task in a state dominated by conservative Republicans, according to the AP.

So now a new chapter is being written.

The state that was the first to secede from the United States, and was ruled for generations by white supremacists, will place its first monument to a single African-American individual on its State House grounds.

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

One-act plays will look at Civil War lives of Walt Whitman and Robert Smalls

Two one-act plays being staged at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois, bring to life true stories of the Civil War. “Lilacs and Letters” and “Small Beginnings” look at the struggles, sacrifices and resilience of the time, according to the library. Actors Zaxx Nation and Reggie Guyton are reprising their roles as Walt Whitman and Robert Smalls. -- Article

Forgotten no more: Robert Smalls seized a Confederate ship and led people to freedom. Now, South Carolina will build a monument to the civil rights champion

Gov. Henry McMaster signs Robert Smalls legislation (S.C. governor's office)

As speakers pointed out Thursday at a South Carolina State House bill-signing ceremony, Robert Small’s legacy was not contained to a single act of bravery during the Civil War.

The African-American, born a slave, in March 1862 commandeered a Confederate ship in Charleston Harbor, sailed people to freedom and became a hero to the Union cause. In the 50 years following, he accomplished even more by helping to advance civil rights.

Now the state that was the first to secede from the United States, and was ruled for generations by white supremacists, will place its first monument to a single African-American individual on the Capitol grounds. Gov. Henry McMaster signed a bill setting up a commission that will come up with a design, location and private funding for the Smalls memorial.

 “A monument to honor Robert Smalls would represent the remarkable contributions, achievements, and accomplishments of this forgotten son of South Carolina and would serve as an overdue tribute to the many slaves who sacrificed alongside him,” asserts the legislation.

Smalls’ contributions to the Palmetto State are incalculable.

A Harper's Weekly article on Smalls' daring escape in Charleston (Library of Congress)

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 the 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. 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.

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

After serving as collector of customs duties, he died in his Beaufort home at age 75 in 1915.

Smalls purchased this Beaufort home that belonged to his enslaver (NPS)

The legislative committee has a few months to make key decisions about the monument. It met for the first time on Wednesday.

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

“A towering obelisk to veterans of the Confederate army sits directly in front of the Statehouse steps. J. Marion Sims, a pioneer of gynecology who experimented on enslaved women without anesthesia, has a statue in a quiet corner of the grounds,” said the newspaper.

“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.”

Speakers at Thursday’s ceremony talked about how South Carolina has changed, through racial reconciliation and, in the case of the Small bills, bipartisanship. State Sen. Gerald Malloy said the effort showed progress by citizens “building a more just and equitable society.”

Smalls has gained national stature in recent years, with buildings and a US Army vessel named for him.

State Sen. Chip Campsen said Smalls fought in three different arenas as a slave, pilot and statesman.

“His life was best described as a fight for freedom. And he knew that his freedom would only endure through law,” Campsen said, according to The State newspaper.

Robert Smalls: House bill would name a Beaufort, S.C., post office branch for the Civil War hero, former slave

A bill naming a post office in Beaufort, S.C., for Civil War hero Robert Smalls, who escaped slavery by commandeering a Rebel steamship, has passed a US House committee.

“He leaves an unmistakable legacy of grit, bravery, and determination which is imbued in the spirit of the Lowcountry to this day,” Rep. Nancy Mace said in a statement Wednesday. She calls Smalls an "exceptional American."

At the start of the Civil War, the enslaved Smalls was a pilot on the 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, 23 at the time, was celebrated across the North for his daring ride to freedom and he served as a ship’s pilot for the rest of the conflict.

The entire South Carolina congressional delegation supports the honor at a shopping plaza on, fittingly, Robert Smalls Parkway, Mace said. John Seibels, Mace’s spokesman, told the Island Packet newspaper that the bill will go the House floor for a vote, which he said will likely pass easily.

The naming would be the latest honor for Smalls.

After the war, he returned to his hometown Beaufort and bought his former master’s home. Following a stint in South Carolina’s Legislature, he 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. He also fought against segregation within the military. Smalls died in 1915 at age 75.

“Each day I spend in Congress, I strive to live up to the values which Robert Smalls so clearly embodied," said Mace.

Robert Smalls became a hero for bold escape with other enslaved persons. An Army ship named for him travels to where it happened

Maj. Gen. Robert Smalls in Kuwait (US Army photo)

The first Army vessel named for an African American will sail next week to Charleston, S.C., the city where Robert Smalls commandeered a Confederate ship and became a hero to the Union cause.

At the start of the Civil War, the enslaved Smalls 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 the 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.

The Maj. Gen. Robert Smalls LSV-8 -- which carries troops, equipment and supplies – has been with the Army since 2007. It has been reassigned to Hawaii and transferred from the reserves to active duty, Maj. Oliver Schuster, an Army spokesman, said in a statement to the Picket.

The voyage from Virginia via the Panama Canal will take about 34 days.

LSV-8 will be part of the 8th Theater Sustainment Command in Hawaii. The command is led by Maj. Gen. David Wilson, a Charleston native and Citadel graduate. Wilson, a member of the Class of 1991, is the first African American graduate from the Citadel to become a two-star general.

“This voyage is unique as it will be the only time a vessel named after a son of Charleston will be in Charleston while in a unit commanded by another son of Charleston,” Schuster said in an email.

Harpers Weekly article on Smalls' daring ride (Library of Congress)

The vessel is expected to arrive in Charleston on or about March 15, Schuster said.

The 8th Theater Sustainment Command saved LSV-8 from being decommissioned by bringing it to active service in Hawaii, he said.

Smalls, 23 at the time, was celebrated across the North for his daring ride to freedom and he served as a ship’s pilot for the rest of the conflict.

After the war, Smalls returned to his hometown Beaufort and bought his former master’s home. After serving in South Carolina’s Legislature, he 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. He also fought against segregation within the military.

Robert Smalls' portrait on ship's bridge (U.S. Army photo)

Smalls died in 1915 at age 75.

The Maj. Gen. Robert Smalls LSV-8 was inducted into the Army’s water fleet at a commissioning ceremony in September 2007 in Baltimore.

"This is a great day, and one I will never forget," Freddy Meyer, great-great grandson of Smalls, said at the event.

"Maj. Gen. Smalls was a renaissance man -- an educator, a politician, a soldier, a businessman and a family man, and the Army could not have picked a better person to name this ship after."