By Herb Frazier | Charleston businessman Michael Boulware Moore, the great-great-grandson of Civil War hero Robert Smalls, wants to follow in his relative’s footsteps to the U.S. Congress as he joins a production team considering a movie about his legendary ancestor.
Moore, who was integral in the development of the International African American Museum, is preparing to announce in the coming weeks that he’ll be a 2024 Democratic Party candidate in the 1st Congressional District. The seat currently is held by U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-Isle of Palms.
“I’d like to prepare a launch event,” he told the Charleston City Paper Thursday. “I am still building the team and creating the infrastructure for a campaign.”
Moore, an executive with the computer software firm Blackbaud, said for years he has considered elected office.
“If I am so blessed to be elected, I will be the fourth in the last five generations of people in my family to serve their community, their state and their country via elected office,” he said. “I grew up with a family that understood that problems don’t solve themselves. From the earliest that African Americans could participate in elected politics, my family has been there.”
That public service legacy in Moore’s family began with Robert Smalls, an enslaved man who in 1862 commandeered the Planter, a Confederate steamship, during the Civil War before he gave it to the Union Navy. Smalls masqueraded as the ship’s white captain to smuggle the Planter out of Charleston Harbor. His daring escape catapulted the Beaufort native into the annals of naval history as well as state and national politics.
Smalls then served in the Union Navy aboard the Planter. After the war, he purchased his former enslaver’s mansion and he published a newspaper. He served in both houses of the S.C. General Assembly before he was elected to five terms as a Reconstruction-era member of Congress.
- Read more about Moore’s involvement in a possible movie about his great-great-great grandfather.
In other news this week:
Civil rights activist Gray passes away at 65. Kevin Alexander Gray, a longtime South Carolina civil rights activist, author, editor and co-owner of Railroad BBQ in downtown Columbia died March 7 at 65. He spent most of his life as a fixture of Columbia politics and activism, serving on the American Civil Liberties Union’s national board and was South Carolina coordinator for the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s presidential campaign in the 1980s.
McMaster taps Floyd to lead workforce and unemployment agency. Gov. Henry McMaster nominated the Department of Employment and Workforce’s chief of staff William Floyd to run the agency.
S.C. House OKs $1.3B for new SUV plant. The South Carolina House approved a $1.3 billion package to attract a new electric plant backed by the Volkswagen Group to a site near Columbia.
S.C. lawmakers unveil recommendations for improving S.C. for children. A bipartisan group of lawmakers, state agency heads, and S.C. citizens has been working to develop recommendations for making the state better for its children.
S.C. lawmakers question if the family Bibles can determine birthdate. A state House of Representatives subcommittee began work on a bill to make it easier for people to use a family Bible or informal genealogical records as proof of their date of birth to obtain a delayed birth certificate.
More than $185M invested for high-quality internet to S.C. homes in need. The U.S. Department of Treasury has approved over $185.8 million of capital projects funding to bring higher quality internet access to over 31,000 homes.
New play celebrates life, impact of Clark. Septima will open at Pure Theatre March 9 and run through April 1. The play honors and celebrates the life and work of S.C. activist Septima P. Clark, a pivotal figure in the Civil Rights movement.
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!