Robert Smalls​ escaped slavery in Charleston by commandeering a Confederate ship and became a top Union naval officer and South Carolina lawmaker.

Basil Watson calls it an honor to create a likeness of Smalls, the first Black person honored with a statue at the SC State House.

Artist Basil Watson is creating the first statue of an African American, Civil War hero Robert Smalls, to be placed on South Carolina's Statehouse grounds.

Before he was a South Carolina lawmaker recognized as a champion of civil rights, Robert Smalls escaped slavery in Charleston ...

South Carolina is preparing to honor Robert Smalls, a former slave who became a prominent political leader, by erecting the first statue of an individual African American on its Statehouse lawn ...

Robert Smalls, captain of that ship, came into the world a slave on April 5, 1839, in Beaufort, South Carolina, a little town located on Port Royal, one of the many Sea Islands off the southern ...

A man named Robert Smalls escaped slavery, along with his family and other slaves, by stealing a Confederate ship and was later elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.