Robert Smalls lived an action-hero life. Why isn鈥檛 he a household name?
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Ken Makin Special correspondent
| San Diego; and Augusta, Ga.
The life and legacy of Robert Smalls are the stuff of a made-for-TV movie. There鈥檚 the thrilling seizure of a Confederate ship, a literal vessel of freedom for a man born into slavery. His political career after the Civil War 鈥� first in the South Carolina statehouse and then in the halls of Congress in Washington 鈥� resulted in a legacy of free public education for all U.S. schoolchildren.
In a different world, Smalls would be a household name, mentioned in the same breath as Barack Obama and Harriet Tubman.
Last summer, that different world was the San Diego Comic-Con.聽
Why We Wrote This
A story focused onThe founder of the first free public schools in the U.S. was born enslaved and won freedom not only for himself, but also his family, by commandeering a Confederate gunship. Why isn鈥檛 he as famous as Harriet Tubman?
Outside of the San Diego Convention Center, rebellion was in the air. Outside, the writers鈥� strike was at a fever pitch. Inside, an idea that began as a Kickstarter had manifested itself into a panel defined by a single word 鈥� DEFIANT.
Legion M was planning a of Smalls鈥� story, with the hope of turning it into a feature film or TV series.
The idea to bring Smalls鈥� story to a larger audience was a no-brainer, explained Rob Edwards, a screenwriter for Disney鈥檚聽Academy Award-nominated 鈥淭he Princess and the Frog.鈥� He was speaking on a panel that included one of Smalls鈥� direct descendants, Michael Boulware Moore, and actor and rapper Marvin 鈥淜rondon鈥� Jones III.
鈥淭he more I researched into his life, the more I realized this man never bowed down from a challenge. The odds were always against him incredibly. And he was like, 鈥榃ho else is gonna do this?鈥欌�� Mr. Edwards said in a phone interview after Comic-Con. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why you need to tell the story now. 鈥� We鈥檙e fighting for the same things that we were fighting for then.鈥�
Smalls taught himself how to read and write after he won his freedom. In 1868, during the , Smalls and an unprecedented majority of Black legislators crafted a policy that created the country鈥檚 first free public schools for all children. 鈥淎ll the public schools, colleges, and universities of this State supported by the public funds shall be free and open to all the children and youths of the State, without regard to race or color鈥� was the phrasing drafted in the state鈥檚 constitution.聽
Smalls鈥� life stands in opposition to all the people claiming Reconstruction was a failure because 鈥溾�榯hese people鈥� do not have the intellectual, mental, cultural ability to govern themselves,鈥� says Bobby Donaldson, an associate professor at the University of South Carolina, who leads the school鈥檚 Center for Civil Rights History and Research. 鈥淣ow, the crazy thing about that is Robert Smalls is almost a symbolic image of that sort of defiance. ... Here was someone who physically challenged all the narratives that were being thrown at Black people 鈥� that they lacked the capacity to fight, they lacked the capacity to serve, and they lacked the capacity to govern. And here鈥檚 Robert Smalls standing tall saying, I beg to differ.鈥�
Capture of the CSS Planter
In April 1861, the Civil War began in Charleston with The Battle of Fort Sumter. The following fall, Smalls was assigned to steer an armed Confederate ship named the CSS Planter. In May 1862, Smalls planned his daring escape from slavery.
After he donned the captain鈥檚 apparel and picked up his family and the families of his enslaved crewmates, he guided the ship past five Confederate harbor forts, giving the correct steam-whistle signals at checkpoints. One last barrier remained to freedom: Smalls and his crew of seven had to sail past Fort Sumter, the most heavily guarded of the Confederate forts.聽
鈥淎t about 4:15 a.m., the Planter finally neared the formidable Fort Sumter, whose massive walls towered ominously about 50 feet above the water. Those on board the Planter were terrified. The only one not outwardly affected by fear was Smalls,鈥� the 厂尘颈迟丑蝉辞苍颈补苍听惭补驳补锄颈苍别 wrote. 鈥淎s the Planter approached the fort, Smalls, wearing [the captain鈥檚] straw hat, pulled the whistle cord, offering 鈥榯wo long blows and a short one.鈥� It was the Confederate signal required to pass, which Smalls knew from earlier trips as a member of the Planter鈥檚 crew.鈥�
As the Planter approached the Union Army, there was still the matter of a Confederate gunboat closing the gap on 鈥渆nemy鈥� quarters. That鈥檚 where Smalls鈥� wife, Hannah, came in. Her savvy use of a white sheet to replace the Confederate flag created a makeshift flag of surrender. The Smalls had secured their own freedom and freedom for 14 others.
A likeness of the Planter rests in 聽on Hilton Head Island, which Luana Graves Sellars, an activist and the founder of Lowcountry Gullah, frequents often.聽
鈥淗is story is not just a story of someone escaping slavery. His story is about courage, determination,鈥� Ms. Sellars says in a phone interview. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about assimilating into a new society. It鈥檚 about sharing his skills towards the efforts of the Civil War being fought. It鈥檚 about the reconstruction of America, and it鈥檚 about grace.鈥�
That grace was exemplified in a story that Ms. Sellars recounts in an of Smalls. Many years after he secured his freedom, Smalls housed the family that enslaved him.
鈥淎fter the war, and his distinguished service to both the U.S. Army and the U.S. Navy, Smalls returned to Beaufort, SC where at a tax sale, he bought the home that had been owned by the McKee family, his former owners,鈥� Ms. Sellars鈥� account reads. The family was destitute. 鈥淚n an extraordinary demonstration of a kind and forgiving heart, he allowed members of the McKee family to continue living in the house. Remarkably, he even allowed the matriarch, who had become senile, to continue to believe that she was still lady of the house until her death.鈥�
For all Smalls鈥� swashbuckling efforts, his humanity is what endures, Ms. Sellars says.
鈥淚t reminds me of an African proverb 鈥� ubuntu 鈥� which means 鈥業 am because we are.鈥櫬營 think that really embodies Robert Smalls and his legacy in that he knew that his work and his legacy could not just stop with him, that it needed to be part of the greater good for everyone,鈥� she says.
Another stunning part of Smalls鈥� legacy? His proximity to literary giants such as Frederick Douglass and W.E.B. Du Bois.
鈥淚n 1888, there鈥檚 a journalist who comes to Augusta and he talks about how quickly we forget history intentionally. He may even mention Robert Smalls and how people erase the promise of Reconstruction. ... The reporter was a man named Frederick Douglass,鈥� Dr. Donaldson says. 鈥淎nd then he says that it is the obligation of Black people to challenge that history and to keep it alive.鈥�
Mr. Edwards, the screenwriter, understands that folks won鈥檛 be reading the graphic novel or watching a film based on 鈥渄usty old history.鈥� The goal is to present how a man named Smalls was larger than life.
鈥淚 always say the most heroic thing [Smalls] did was die of old age,鈥� Mr. Edwards says. 鈥淗e commandeered the Planter, and he had a bounty on his head,鈥� that would be worth about $125,000 in today鈥檚 dollars. 鈥淔our thousand dollars for anybody who took him out, and that was the bounty placed on his head when he was 23. And still, he just passed away [at age 75] in his sleep.鈥�
