Robert Smalls

In the early morning hours of May 13, 1862 on Charleston, South Carolina’s Southern Warf, Robert Smalls and a small group of freedom seekers embarked on a courageous journey to freedom. Like so many enslaved people, the desire for freedom was so profound that not even the risk of death could have stopped them. Once word spread of his heroic escape, he became the most famous African American in the country. From that day on, he would spend the rest of his life fighting for inclusive freedom for all African Americans.

“My race needs no special defense, for the past history of them in this country proves them to be the equal of any people anywhere. All they need is an equal chance in the battle of life.”

- Robert Smalls on November 1, 1895

Early Life

Robert Smalls was born on April 5, 1839 in Beaufort, South Carolina. He was enslaved by John McKee and worked as a house servant until the age of 12. After that, McKee leased Robert out to work as a waiter and sailor. When Smalls was 18, he worked out an agreement with McKee to keep some of his earnings. In time, he used his savings to purchase his wife and daughter from their owner for $800. Saving money to purchase family members was not uncommon at the time. It was done to keep families together and possibly give them the chance to be emancipated.

An Opportunity

Robert was sent to work on the steamship Planter in 1861 at 22 years old. The Planter was owned by John Ferguson, who leased it out to the Confederate military. The ship was used as a supply transport and a personal dispatch for General Roswell Ripley, the commander of the 2nd Military District of South Carolina. When the Union Navy set up a blockade 10 miles outside of Charleston, it gave Robert an idea. Robert had always thought about escaping with his wife and children, but never had an opportunity until then. During his time on the Planter, he devised an extraordinary plan to not only gain his own freedom, but freedom for 15 others as well. His plan was to commandeer the Planter, pick up his family and additional freedom seekers, and pilot it out to the Union blockade.

Even though Robert was already a skilled sailor, he studied as much as he could about operating the Planter. From commands, to routes, to signals, to engineering, he knew the key to his success was deception through knowledge. He even studied the body movements of General Ripley and Captain Charles Relyea to deceive the confederate soldiers on land. He believed if he could make the ship look like it was on a normal mission, he may have a chance. Smalls devised his plan with the other enslaved crew members on the Planter.

Escape

On the night of May 12, 1862, Captain Relyea ordered Smalls and the other enslaved crew members to guard the Planter while the Confederate sailors went home to stay with their families. This was actually a violation of General Orders, No. 5. That night, Smalls and the others disguised themselves as crew members. Smalls disguised himself as Captain Relyea, even wearing his straw hat. They sailed the ship up the Cooper River to pick up Smalls’ family and the other freedom seekers. Once everyone was on board, they turned around and headed down the Cooper River toward the Union blockade. This was the most dangerous part of the escape. Smalls had to pilot the ship through a gauntlet of forts and artillery stations. Any simple mistake could have aroused the suspicion of the Confederate soldiers manning their stations. The forts and artillery stations could have easily destroyed the Planter, killing everyone on board.

Some of Smalls’ crew wanted to try and sneak past the forts, but Smalls knew that the noise from the engine and the smoke coming out of the stacks made that impossible. Smalls knew they had to maintain their composure, stay the course, and make everything seem normal. The forts (Castle Pinckney, Fort Ripley, Fort Johnson and Fort Sumter) were also checkpoints for ships moving in and out of Charleston harbor. The ships and the checkpoints would signal each other as a means of communication. One by one, Smalls signaled the checkpoints and they signaled back. Before the Confederates knew what was going on, Smalls had successfully piloted the Planter out to the Union blockade.

When the Union sailors boarded the Planter, they were dismayed with the situation: 16 African Americans aboard a Confederate supply ship at a Union blockade. When Smalls met the Union sailors, he saluted them and said, “I am delivering this war material including these cannons and I think Uncle Abraham Lincoln can put them to good use.”

When word spread throughout the North about this incredible act, Smalls became the most famous African American in the country and a hero for the cause. The Confederacy offered a $2,000 reward for his capture. Smalls had humiliated the Confederacy, and challenged their belief of African American inferiority. How could an illiterate, enslaved man commandeer a Confederate ship, pilot it past all those checkpoints, and hand it over to the Union blockade? After gaining his freedom, he served the Union as the first African American Captain of a military vessel, the Planter and the Keokuk.

Legacy

After the war, Smalls decided to move back to South Carolina instead of leaving the South like many other African Americans did. He opened both a general store and a school to help his newly emancipated brothers and sisters. This was a courageous yet dangerous move, because Smalls was so well-known in the Charleston region for his actions. In addition to his business ventures, he also became editor of the Beaufort Southern Standard and eventually purchased the house of his deceased former owner, John McKee. In an act of kindness, he allowed Mrs. McKee to remain in the mansion.

Robert knew the road ahead for African Americans would be long and turbulent, so he decided to run for public office. Smalls knew that this was the best opportunity to fight for inclusive freedom legislation for African Americans. He was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1868, the state Senate in 1870, and eventually the U.S House of Representatives in 1875 where he served 5 terms.

Robert Smalls’ story should be an inspiration for us all. For most of us, it’s almost impossible to comprehend the reality of his experiences. From enslaved to a U.S. Representative and so much more. To honor Robert Smalls, his great-great grandchildren Michael and Helen Boulware-Moore worked with the South Carolina State Museum to create a travelling exhibit called “The Life and Times of Congressman Robert Smalls." Director Charles Burnett is also currently working with Amazon to develop a movie based on Robert Smalls’ life, called Steal Away.

“I think he is an unsung hero. Once again, it’s getting the story of Robert Smalls out to the public. I want [young people] to remember him as a ‘yes you can’ person. When we tell the story of Robert Smalls, we want [children] to be able to really understand that they have an opportunity. When they see a child who grew up enslaved, but ended his life as a five term United States congressman. If he can do it, than they can do it.”

- Helen Boulware-Moore, great-great granddaughter of Robert Smalls, thegrio.com

James Harrington

Manager of Interpretive Services
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center

At age 18, Mary found work at the New England Hospital for Women and Children, which was run by a staff of women. Mary worked at the hospital for 15 years as a cook, maid, laundress and nurse’s aide. In 1878, she was granted a new opportunity. She was finally accepted in to the hospital’s professional graduate school for nursing. It was an intensive 16-month program. Out of 42 students, only four passed. Mary was among the four.

After graduation, Mary worked as a private nurse for over 30 years. Due to the racial inequalities of the time, the private sector was the only option for an African American nurse. In 1911, Mary became the Director of the The Howard Colored Orphan Asylum for African American children in Long Island, New York, serving one year. At age 76, she became one of the first women to register to vote after the passage of the 19th amendment in 1920.

Unfortunately, 1923 brought on a new battle for Mary that she lost 3 years later. On January 4, 1926 she died of breast cancer at the age of 80. She is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Everett, Massachusetts. In 1936, the National Association for Colored Graduate Nurses created the Mary Mahoney Award in honor of her achievements, still given today. In 1968, Mary Mahoney Award Winner Helen S. Miller, raised enough money along with other sororities to erect a memorial at Mahoney's gravesite. The memorial is visited by many and signifies the strength and resilience of Mary’s legacy.

As we wait out this pandemic that has taken over the world, we at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center thank all those health care professionals who continue to work the front line. Today, you are our freedom heroes.

---

Novella Nimmo

Education Coordinator
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center

Perspectives: David Walker

Born in Wilmington, N.C. of a free African American mother and an enslaved father, David Walker (c.1798 – 1830) was considered legally free. Slavery followed the condition of the mother, not the father. Even though he was techincally free, he still observed the horrors of enslavement. As a young child, he watched as a son was forced to whip his mother.

Walker traveled throughout the North as a young man, but eventually settled in Boston by 1825 and opened a used clothing store. He married Eliza Butler in 1826 and they had two children, Lydia and Edward. Lydia died before her second birthday, but Edward would become one of the first African Americans elected to the Massachusetts State Legislature in 1866.

Walker’s real passion, however, was for ending enslavement. He joined anti-enslavement groups (Massachusetts General Colored Association), wrote for the country’s first black newspaper (Freedom’s Journal), and became known for his eloquent speaking against enslavement. He was also associated with the Prince Hall Freemasonry.

In 1829 he wrote and published a pamphlet called Appeal, a radical call to African Americans to rise up in revolt against slave owners.  His Appeal was intended to spark a flame in abolitionists and show all Americans the hypocrisy that slavery presented in a country where “all men are created equal.”

“The man who would not fight under our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, in the glorious and heavenly cause of freedom and of God--to be delivered from the most wretched, abject and servile slavery, that ever a people was afflicted with since the foundation of the world, to the present day--ought to be kept with all of his children or family, in slavery, or in chains, to be butchered by his cruel enemies.”

Walker used his clothing store to spread the message, sewing copies of his pamphlet into the lining of sailors’ clothes. The sailors sympathetic to his cause could then distribute the pamphlets all across the South. Reaction to his Appeal was swift. Outraged slaveholders helped pass laws forbidding African Americans to learn to read and banning the spread of anti-enslavement pamphlets. The state of Georgia issued a $10,000 reward for Walker’s capture.

Even though his supporters begged him to flee to Canada, Walker refused, saying “Somebody must die in this cause. I may be doomed to the stake and the fire, or to the scaffold tree, but it is not in me to falter if I can promote the work of emancipation.”

On August 6, 1830, shortly after a third edition of his pamphlet was published and one week after his daughter died of tuberculosis, David Walker passed away.  His Appeal however, continued to inspire people to fight against enslavement. From Nat Turner to John Brown, the idea of ending enslavement through violence became a common theme.  In the end, David Walker was right. It took violence, the Civil War, and the death of over 600,000 human beings to finally bring an end to enslavement.

David Walker’s legacy continued to live on through the Black Nationalist Movement and through individuals like Martin R. Delany, Malcom X, Huey P. Newton and Angela Davis. Malcom X aggressively spoke out against racism, and gaining equality “by any means necessary.” Huey P. Newton and Angela Davis proudly marched down streets with rifles and shotguns in hand, showing the country they were not afraid to use violence to defend themselves against racist attacks. Even today, organizations like Black Lives Matter, continue to answer Walker’s call for self-resilience and self-determination. David Walker’s Appeal and its ideology will continue to resonate for generations to come.

James Harrington

Manager of Interpretive Services
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center

Keeping Our History Healthy: John S. Rock

For as far back as we can recall, African American professionals have distinctly served a dual purpose in American society. The social realities and legacies call for African Americans to be brilliant in their respective occupations while being an example of social uplift for the discounted and disenfranchised. John S. Rock is one of those brilliant examples and forebears who are often overlooked. As a master of several professions and an activist, Rock was an intellectual force who contributed towards the liberation and emancipation of millions.

John S. Rock (1825-1866) was born to free black parents in Salem, New Jersey.  He was educated in the public schools and became a grammar school teacher between 1844 and 1848.  He also studied medicine while working as an assistant to white doctors. After being denied admission to medical school because of his race, Rock pursued dentistry and opened a dental practice in Philadelphia. Although he was not afforded the necessary opportunities, he remained diligent in becoming a physician. Through perseverance, he was admitted to the American Medical College and graduated with a medical degree in 1852.

Dr. Rock moved to Boston where he established a successful practice that often offered free services to escaping enslaved persons. As a prolific orator, he lectured on the abolition of slavery as well as suffrage for Blacks. In 1858 he delivered a powerful speech titled, “Whenever the Colored Man is Elevated, It Will Be by His Own Exertions”. Rock’s analysis of racism and pride in his African ancestry was profound.  In fact some scholars believe his proclamation of “Black pride” became a central part of the Black Power movement a century later. This speech asserts the courage of Blacks to fight for freedom and that “Black is beautiful”.  He also protested and challenged the 1857 Dred Scott Decision in this monumental speech.

After health issues forced him to give up his medical practice in 1859, he decided to pursue a career as a lawyer.  In 1861 he became one of the first African Americans admitted to the Massachusetts Bar and was appointed Justice of the Peace for Suffolk County. Through the conflict of the Civil War, Rock remained relentless in advocating for the abolition of slavery. Additionally, he was a major recruiter for the Black volunteer regiments from Massachusetts.

In 1865, Rock became the first African American to be accorded the privilege of pleading before the Supreme Court.  Rock’s presence was approved by Salmon P. Chase, who replaced Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, author of the Dred Scott decision. Still in poor health, Rock became ill during the Washington ceremonies and never recovered.  His health continued to deteriorate until his passing in 1866.

This abolitionist, teacher, dentist, physician, and lawyer was a brilliant combination of intellectual power, professional success, and political action.  As we observe the remarkable heroism of those in the medical profession during this pandemic, let us not forget the trailblazers that proceeded them. I know many African Americans in the medical field and they are often called to be more than their occupation. Like Rock, they are needed to be examples of social uplift and ethical leadership for the discounted and disenfranchised.

Christopher Miller

Senior Director of Education & Community Engagement
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center

Statement on the Passing of Judge Nathaniel Jones

We are deeply saddened by the passing of Judge Nathaniel Jones. Judge Jones has been a champion and advocate of The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center since it’s opening in 2004 but his dedication to equality and inclusive freedom have been his life’s work. He has been a transformational figure in this community, nationally and internationally. His work in helping draft the South African constitution and ensuring the nation’s first free and fair elections as it emerged from Apartheid rule are remarkable. He lived a life of unbounded courage and integrity fighting for others.

While his family, friends and community will feel his loss, the world also shines brighter because of the life he lived. His legacy continues to fan the flame of freedom and we will honor him in the work we continue to do. The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center will forever be in his debt.

Union Baptist Cemetery: Vandalized Sacred Grounds

The city of Cincinnati in the free state of Ohio, located in the Northwest Territory bordered Virginia and Kentucky on the south, Indiana on the west and Michigan on the north.  Two hundred and fifty miles to the north, Canada offered physical freedom to people of African descent who were in flight from enslavement.  Cincinnati, America’s 6th largest city in the early 1800’s geographically appeared to offer an ideal location to Black people seeking to start building new, free lives.  However, the dark legacy of race would follow them to church where they were required to sit in the rear of the sanctuary and submit to many of the racist social policies of the South from which they had fled.

In July 1831, 14 Black worshippers left the Enon Baptist Church and formed the African Union Baptist Church which would become known as the Freedom Church.  There was no place of respectful burial, interment for Blacks within the city limits.  Black people were buried in unmarked graves in the Potters’ Field and in shallow graves along the often-flooded Mill Creek that emptied into the Ohio River sweeping the remains of Black people to the South from which they had fled.

In 1865 the leaders of the Union Baptist Church found and purchased 16 acres of dry ground 5 miles west and 300 feet above the then-city limits and neighborhoods in which most of Black Cincinnati lived.  Construction workers, stevedores and day laborers from the Cincinnati waterfront, domestics, and wash women lie among butlers, chauffeurs, and the men who labored in the killing grounds of America’s largest stock yards in the 1800’s.

First Sargent Powhatan Beatty, a member of the Black Brigade, the first African American military unit composed of 700 volunteers who crossed the Ohio River at Cincinnati’s Walnut Street unarmed in 1862 and built many of the rifle pits and forts in Kentucky that protected Cincinnati from Confederate troops who defeated White Union troops at Richmond, Kentucky is interred at Union along with 50 of his companions.  Sargent Beatty would receive a Congressional Medal of Honor for leading Black troops at Chapin’s Farm in Virginia as they moved south from Petersburg to Richmond.  Peter Fossett, who was enslaved at Monticello, and who after his family purchased his freedom, became a leading caterer in Cincinnati is buried there.  Jennie D. Porter, the first Black woman to receive a PhD from the University of Cincinnati and Sarah Fossett who led the campaign to build the Colored Orphanage in the 1830’s are reflective of the little-known rich cross-section of Cincinnati’s Black antebellum population.

Time and vandals have attacked the quiet place of memory and burial of those often-denied full citizenship in Cincinnati, Ohio during their lives.  The request for funding for the restoration of the Union Baptist Cemetery will honor and memorialize the rich and diverse history of all of Cincinnati’s citizens.  The Union Baptist Church and its Cemetery, for the last 188 years have given religious, cultural and historical guidance to the African American community in Cincinnati.  The cemetery was the first place where people of African descent could, and to this day, is one of the few places in this region, that continues to preserve the historic and cultural legacy of 40% of Cincinnati’s population.

Carl B. Westmoreland

Senior Historian, National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
Trustee Emeritus, National Trust for Historic Preservation

What Guests are Saying: A Visit from Middletown Middle School

As we continue to deliver powerful museum experiences, we would like to take a brief moment to share some of the testimonials from a group of eighth graders from Middletown Middle School that recently visited the museum. Here’s what students and teachers had to say…

Dear National Underground Railroad Freedom Center Staff,

A few of our students wanted to personally thank you for the experience you shared with them at Freedom Center on 2/26. We appreciate you taking the time to show us all around. We wouldn’t have been able to come if it weren’t for the grant we received from you, so thank you!

Sincerely,

Casey S.

Middletown Middle School Teacher

Dear People from the Freedom Center,

Thank you for showing me the Freedom Center and giving me a better clue of what it was like for slaves and what they had to go through.

Thank you,

Blake A.

MMS Student

Dear People of the Freedom Center,

I was glad to learn about slavery and how they were freed. Bless everyone that died to save some of the slaves. Another thing that amazed me was seeing the bridge from the third floor!

Hector C.

MMS Student

Receiving these letters reminds us why it’s important to keep fighting for freedom for everyone. To the students of Middletown Middle School, you are our future. Thank you and we hope you will return soon.

To schedule your school group for a visit to National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, contact James Harrington at (513) 333-7523 or email schoolgroups@nurfc.org. #MyNURFC