BEAUFORT, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina is preparing to erect its first individual statue of an African American on the statehouse lawn, honoring a man who wore Confederate clothing to steal a slave owner’s ship and his family and a dozen others to sail to freedom during the Civil War.
But Robert Smalls is honored for more than just his brave escape. He spent a decade in the U.S. House of Representatives, helped rewrite South Carolina’s constitution to allow equality for black men after the Civil War, then put up a valiant but doomed fight when racists returned to power and wiped out almost all of the gains Smalls fought for.
Rep. Jermaine Johnson can’t wait to bring his kids to the Statehouse to finally see someone as Black as them be honored.
“The man has done so many great things, it’s just a travesty that he hasn’t been honored until now. “Damn, it’s also a travesty that there isn’t a major Hollywood movie about his life,” said Johnson, a Democrat from a district just a few miles from the Statehouse.
The idea for a statue for Smalls has been brewing for years. But there was always hushed resistance that prevented a bill from coming to a hearing. That changed in 2024, when the proposal passed unanimously through the state House of Representatives and Senate with the support of Republican Rep. Brandon Cox of Goose Creek.
“South Carolina is a great state. We have a lot of history, good and bad. That’s our good story,” Cox said.
What will the Robert Smalls memorial look like?
The bill created a special committee that has until Jan. 15 to come up with a design, a location on the Statehouse lawn and the money to fund its chosen monument.
But fans face a challenging question: What best honors Smalls?
If it’s just a statue, then is it best to honor the annoying ship’s pilot who waited for the entire white crew to leave and then mimicked hand signals and whistles to get through Confederate checkpoints while he hoped the Confederate soldiers didn’t notice a black man? Man under the hat in the pale moonlight in May 1862?
Or would a more fitting tribute to Smalls be to honor the statesman who served in the South Carolina House and Senate as well as the U.S. House of Representatives after the Civil War? Smalls bought his master’s home in Beaufort partly with the money he earned from surrendering the Confederate ship to Union forces, then allowed the man’s destitute wife to live there when she was widowed.
Or is the elder Smalls, who fought for education for all and ensured that the achievements of African Americans during the Civil War were preserved, the man most worthy of public memory? Smalls saw a novel constitution in 1895 that abolished African Americans’ right to vote. He was fired from his post as federal customs collector in 1913 when then-President Woodrow Wilson fired enormous numbers of black men from government jobs.
Or would it be best to combine them all somehow? That’s how Republican Rep. Chip Campsen, an occasional ship pilot himself, sees the honoring of one of his favorite South Carolinians.
“Robert Smalls’ life is best summarized as a struggle for freedom as a slave, as a pilot and as a statesman,” Campsen said.
Location, location, location
Then there is the question of location. While there is a multi-panel monument in South Carolina honoring the struggle of African Americans from their journey on slave ships to the present day, it does not honor a single black man or woman among the two dozen monuments scattered around the statehouse.
At least six different memorials honor people like Dr. J. Marion Sims, considered by some to be the father of state-of-the-art gynecology, but who supported his research by operating on enslaved women and girls without anesthesia. Several honor Confederates who fought to protect slavery in the state that sparked the Civil War and hang a marble copy of the Articles of Secession in the lobby between the House and Senate chambers.
On the dubious list is “Pitchfork” Ben Tillman, a governor and U.S. senator who bragged about how he led groups of whites who killed black men who wanted to vote during the 1876 election, leading to the end of Reconstruction and the Return of the all-white population led to domination and the collapse of everything Smalls had worked for. None of this is written on the plaque for Tillman’s statue.
Some supporters have suggested that Smalls’ statue could stand nearby and be taller and more prominent than Tillman’s, giving Smalls a triumph after some 130 years.
Once the design and location are finalized, organizers hope fundraising will become easier with a concept in mind.
“We have to get the narrative right,” said Republican Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey. “This will tell a story. I think it’s important that we say this in the right way to honor him and South Carolina. I think it’s really cool.”
The Monumental Life of Robert Smalls
Robert Smalls was born in Beaufort in 1839 and died in his hometown in 1915, a free but somewhat forgotten man who lived a life unimaginable for a woman holding her son born into slavery. Supporters now have the chance to ensure he is never forgotten.
“Robert Smalls is writing a new future for this county that no one can see right now,” said Chris Barr, the interpretive director of the Reconstruction Era National Historic Park in Beaufort, as he stood next to a bust of Smalls near his grave in his grave Hometown.
Riding a Confederate boat to freedom is what draws the most attention in this remarkable life, Barr said.
“If you’re an enslaved person working on one of these boats around Charleston Harbor like Robert Smalls, you have the tools, you have the talent, you have the boat and you know how to drive it. “Barr said, “And you can literally see freedom swimming in the form of the United States Navy just a few miles off the coast.” All you need is an opportunity.
