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Smalls, a slave who went on to become a U.S. congressman and one of Beaufort County's best-known native sons, will be joined by former Gov. Richard Riley.
"I am extremely privileged to be able to honor both of these remarkable contributors to the state of South Carolina by inducting them into the official S.C. Hall of Fame," Leo Twiggs, chairman of the board of trustees, said in a news release.
Smalls and Riley will be inductedat 10:30 a.m. Feb. 9 at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center. The ceremony is free and open to the public. Portraits of both men will be unveiled and added to the gallery in the convention center lobby where the S.C. Hall of Fame is located.
Smalls is the second inductee in as many years with ties to Beaufort. In 2009, best-selling author and Fripp Island resident Pat Conroy was enshrined. Other inductees with Beaufort or Jasper county connections include Thomas Heyward Jr. and former Gov. John West.
Smalls was born in Beaufort on April 5, 1839, and he went on to play important roles in local, state and national history.
At the start of the Civil War, he was a pilot on the Confederate steamship CSS Planter. On the morning of May 13, 1862, Smalls led the takeover of the ship by its slave crew, sailed past the harbor's formidable defenses and surrendered the vessel to the Union fleet. The ship was received as contraband, and Smalls and his crew were welcomed as heroes. Later, President Abraham Lincoln received Smalls in Washington and rewarded him and his crew for their valor. He was given official command of the CSS Planter and made a captain in the U.S. Navy.
After the war, Smalls returned to South Carolina and entered politics. He was a state representative from 1868-70 and state senator from 1870-74. In 1874 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and served intermittently until 1886.
In 1889 President Benjamin Harrison appointed Smalls the U.S. Collector of Customs for the port in Beaufort, an office he held until 1913.
Smalls died on Feb. 22, 1915.
A Beaufort County School District Middle School -- and before that, a junior high school and segregated high school -- bears his name, as does a section of S.C. 170.
Riley was a state representative and state senator before becoming the first South Carolina governor to serve consecutive four-year terms (1979-1987). As governor, he was credited for his effort to overhaul the state's public school system, which included the 1984 Education Improvement Act.
Riley went on to serve as secretary of education under President Bill Clinton, the first South Carolinian named to that position. He now is a senior partner in the law firm of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP.
Persons eligible for induction into the S.C. Hall of Fame are those born in South Carolina who obtained recognition elsewhere and those born elsewhere but who lived and obtained recognition in the state. One contemporary citizen and one deceased citizen may be inducted annually.
Smalls and Riley were selected by the Confederation of S.C. Local Historical Societies. This was the first year that the nomination of inductees was open to the public.
