Robert Smalls

Born: April 5, 1839 in Beaufort, South Carolina

Died: February 23, 1915 in Beaufort, South Carolina

United States Representative, 1875–1879; 1882–1883; 1884–1887

Republican from South Carolina

• An escaped slave and a Civil War naval hero, Robert Smalls served five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. 
• While still a slave, Smalls was hired out on the waterfront and became an expert navigator of the South Carolina and Georgia coasts. 
• During the Civil War, Smalls was conscripted into service by the Confederate Army aboard an ammunition transport ship. On May 13, 1862, a Black crew captained by Smalls hijacked the well-stocked ship and turned it over to the Union Navy. He became a celebrity for the Union cause and thus began his career as a public figure. 
• At the war’s conclusion, Smalls received a commission as Brigadier general of the South Carolina militia. He embarked on business ventures, opening a store and a school for Black children in 1867. He also published a newspaper, the Beaufort Southern Standard, starting in 1872.
• He played a leading role in the creation of South Carolina's mandatory education for all the state's children.
• Smalls received several honors in his lifetime, including a Congressional citation for bravery in 1900, nearly four decades after his exploits on the Planter. He died of natural causes in his Beaufort home on February 22, 1915 at the age of 75.

Robert Smalls

1887

Print Collection

Photographs and Prints Division

NYPL Digital Collections: Robert Smalls (Congressman).