At the age of 23, Robert Smalls won freedom for himself and his family. The Beaufort County man went from slavery to Civil War pilot before being elected to Congress.
He is the embodiment of a true hero, members of the Robert Smalls Monument Commission said Wednesday. His legacy will soon be enshrined on the State House grounds.
During a committee meeting Wednesday, 10 members of the South Carolina Senate and House of Representatives discussed the logistics of the design, location and fundraising for the monument. The Legislature passed a bill in the 2023-24 session that created the commission after the state’s moratorium on new monuments on statehouse grounds.
Sen. Gerald Malloy, D-Darlington, one of the bill’s sponsors, said it was a monumental time for the state. Malloy stressed the need for the historical perspective not to be “skewed” and to show what Smalls meant to the state. “It has to be a true picture of South Carolina and an American hero,” Malloy said.
Sen. Chip Campsen, R-Charleston, said it was high time Smalls got the recognition he deserved.
“I think the best way to sum up Robert Smalls’ life is that it was a fight for freedom as a slave, as a pilot and as a statesman. And those three different arenas, his life was best described as a fight for freedom. And he knew that his freedom would only continue through the law,” said Campsen, who also added his fight for education.
Smalls was born in Beaufort and escaped slavery in Charleston. He was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives during the Reconstruction era and subsequently served in the state Senate. In 1874, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
“He is someone that all South Carolinians can and should respect. He had a lot to be bitter about, but he wasn’t. He set a course for the rest of his life to make South Carolina a better place for all people of all races,” Campsen said.
Smalls’ monument will be the first of a single African-American figure on the statehouse grounds. It currently contains more than 30 monuments, including one dedicated to the history of slavery and black history in South Carolina.
Earlier this year, the University of South Carolina unveiled a monument to the first three black students to enroll in classes after desegregation. The monument is in the “heart” of campus, Dorn Smith, a USC trustee and former chair of the board, told The State, which reported that the board selected the location so that anyone visiting campus could walk by and enjoy it.
The committee set a deadline of January 15 for the design and location of the statue, after which it plans to set up a website for donations.
“This is pretty cool. This is pretty neat. There aren’t a whole lot of statutes that we need to add to the statehouse grounds, but I think Robert Smalls is worth it,” said Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield.
Massey said some members of the state Senate did not know Smalls. Massey said they want people to be educated and honor Smalls’ accomplishments.
Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, who attended the meeting via Zoom, said he once lived across the street from Smalls’ home in Charleston. He learned about Smalls’ impact 40 years ago through the schools, landmarks and streets named after him.
“I learned very quickly who he was and what he meant to South Carolina and how the city best exemplifies what South Carolina is all about,” Davis said.
State Rep. Jermaine Johnson, D-Richland, said it’s often said it’s a “great day in South Carolina,” but Wednesday was “truly an extraordinarily fantastic, wonderful, amazing day in South Carolina.”
Johnson said the school system doesn’t always teach about “these historical figures.” Think of the many field trips and education that come out of it, he said.
“I’m really looking forward to the day that I can take my children and grandchildren to the State House grounds,” Johnson said of what he would tell them. “This is the soil that you came from. These are the heroes that I want you to look up to and I want to carry forward.”
