COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina leaders gathered at the State House for a groundbreaking to honor a man who had a huge impact on the Palmetto State’s history.
In August 2024, Gov. Henry McMaster and legislators created a new law to build a monument of Civil War hero and politician Robert Smalls on State House grounds.
Smalls, a Beaufort native, was born into slavery. During the Civil War he sailed himself, his crew and their families to freedom on a Confederate ship. He later served South Carolina in the state legislature and Congress…