From staff reports
The City of Charleston is hosting an event Friday to celebrate the 160th anniversary of Beaufort’s Robert Smalls commandeering the CSS Planter and sailing it and it’s enslaved crew, along with the families of Smalls and his crew to freedom, turning the ship over to the Union forces blockading Charleston Harbour.
The event, entitled “The Charleston Salute to Civil War Hero Robert Smalls” is being held at noon Friday, May 13, at the Pineapple Water Fountain in the rear of the City Gallery at 34 Prioleau Street.
Attendees are invited by Charleston Mayor John J. Tecklenburg and Michael Boulware Moore, a direct descendant of Smalls.
Special guests include Elizabeth Sackey, Mayor of Accra, Ghana; former Beaufort Mayor Billy Keyserling; Bernard Powers, Director of the Center For The Study Of Slavery In Charleston at the College of Charleston; and Tonya Matthews, President and CEO of the International African American Museum.
In the event of rain, the event will be held inside the City Gallery. For more information, call the City of Charleston at 843-579-7530.
