Historical Photograph: Robert Smalls [1839-1915], Pilot of the 'Planter'

Robert Smalls

Historical Photograph: Robert Smalls [1839-1915], Pilot of the 'Planter'

1862

Historical Photograph

Hagley Digital Archives presents an 1862 tintype portrait, by Samuel Francis du Pont, of Robert Smalls- an enslaved South Carolina man who made a naval escape from slavery in search of freedom. The source provides a short description of Smalls and his crew members' seizure of a Confederate vessel in Charleston that they later delivered to the Union Army on May 13, 1862. The black and white photo features a young Smalls from the waist up, dressed in a dark suit and light colored dress shirt. The portrait is framed in gold elements. A painting of palm trees and waterways are used as a backdrop.

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Hagley Digital Archives

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