Black Civil War hero Robert Smalls to be honored with statue at South Carolina State House.
The Jamaican-born artist is creating a sculpture of Robert Smalls, the historic South Carolina lawmaker who escaped slavery in Charleston by commandeering a Confederate ship.
Smalls would go on to become a top Union naval officer during the Civil War, and is celebrated as a champion of civil rights and equality.
"It's an honor to get to put this piece on the state Capitol in South Carolina," Watson said.
His statue of Smalls will be the first monument honoring an individual African American on the State House's grounds.
Currently, the statues surrounding the Capitol are all of White men, many with ties to the Civil War or the Jim Crow-era South.
Basil Watson is creating a sculpture of Robert Smalls, the historic South Carolina lawmaker who escaped slavery in Charleston by commandeering a Confederate ship. »