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In a terrible summer often filled with stories about monuments to terrible men, here is a story about an American hero. Build monuments to Robert Smalls.

Originally released on February 10th, 2016.

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Music
\n* Julia Rovinsky plays Phillip Glass\u2019\xa0Metamorphosis I, from her album\xa0Dusk.
\n* There\u2019s an excerpt from Paul Drescher\u2019s \u201cCasa Vecchia,\u201d from the\xa0Mirrors: Other Fire\xa0album.
\n* There\u2019s a chunk of Jose Gonzalez\u2019\xa0\u201cInstrumental\u201d\xa0from his\xa0Stay in the Shade\xa0EP.
\n* \u201cManny Returns Home\u201d from Bernard Hermann\u2019s score to\xa0The Wrong Man.
\n* Branka Parlic plays Philip Glass\u2019\xa0\u201cMad Rush.\u201d\xa0Twice.
\n*\xa0\u201cQuiet Fan for SK,\u201d\xa0by P.G. Six.
\n* Things get heavy to\xa0\u201cParticles of the Universe (Heartbeats)\u201d\xa0from Dan Romer and Ben Zeitlin\u2019s score to\xa0Beasts of the Southern Wild.

Notes
\nThere\u2019s a lot written about Robert Smalls, with a lot of contradictory information. I found Edward A. Miller\u2019s Gullah Statesman: Robert Smalls from Slavery to Congress particularly useful to sorting it all out.
\nSome other sources I consulted while researching this piece:
\n* The Negro\u2019s Civil War: How American Blacks Felt and Acted During the War for the Union by the Don, James McPherson
\n* From Slavery to Public Service: Robert Smalls, 1839-1915, by Okon Uya.
\n* And, for what it\u2019s worth, Robert Smalls: The Boat Thief from RFK Jr.\u2019s American Heroes Series is an enjoyable and surprisingly thorough version of the story for young readers, if you\u2019re ever looking for that sort of thing.