The state Senate last month passed a joint resolution to erect a monument immortalizing the Civil War hero who escaped slavery and became a U.S. Congressman.
"I believe former Congressman Smalls is worthy of a place on State House grounds," said Sen. Clementa Pinckney, D-Ridgeland. adding that the grounds are reserved for significant historical events and people in state history. "Robert Smalls is highly deserving. He's the most celebrated individual in the Lowcountry."
As a 23-year-old slave pilot in April 1862, Smalls commandeered the Planter, a Confederate steamer loaded with armaments, from a Charleston dock and delivered it past heavily-guarded Fort Sumter to a Union fleet. He would become the first black captain of a ship, piloting the iron clad Keokuk during a failed attack on Fort Sumter.
Smalls served in both the South Carolina House of Representatives and Senate. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he fought to protect the rights of black Americans during his five terms in office.
The bill awaits approval from the state House and Gov. Mark Sanford. It was introduced and given a first reading in the House on May 4 and sits in the Judiciary Committee.
Pinckney said he talked to some House members, including Rep. Catherine Ceips, R-Beaufort, and "they were excited about" the bill.
Ceips said she plans to speak with members of the Judiciary Committee and is confident the bill will pass this year.
The bill calls for the money needed for the statue to be raised privately, which Ceips said could help the bill's cause, given the state's budget woes.
Last month an Army transport vessel was christened the Major General Robert Smalls and launched in Pascagoula, Miss.
In Beaufort, a parkway and middle school bear his name, and a detailed bust stands outside the Tabernacle Baptist Church on Craven Street.
