Book Release and Signing for “Yearning to Breathe Free,” Dr. Andrew Billingsley’s Study of Robert Smalls

On Saturday, August 19th at 4pm, the University of South Carolina Center for Civil Rights History will be hosting a book talk at Tabernacle Baptist Church on Craven Street in conjunction with the Justice For All exhibit on display with Reconstruction Era National Historical Park at Penn Center National Historic Landmark District.

Dr. Andrew Billingsley will celebrate a new paperback edition by the University of South Carolina Press of his classic study of Robert Smalls, “Yearning to Breathe Free,” at a book signing and reception Saturday, August 19, 4-6:30 p.m., at Tabernacle Baptist
Church, 907 Craven Street, Beaufort.

Copies will be available for purchase at the free public event. Dr. Billingsley’s visit is part of the series of public programs with the Center for Civil Rights History and Research’s “Justice for All” traveling exhibition in Beaufort. The exhibition tells the story of South Carolina’s essential role in the American Civil Rights Movement.

Billingsley captures the thrilling story of Robert Smalls’ self-emancipation by capturing a Confederate warship in Charleston and of his rise to Congress, but he does much more. The eminent sociologist reveals the compelling story of Smalls’ decision and its effect on his life and his family’s future generations. Dr. Billingsley shows “patterns of opportunity, challenge, and change that have been the hallmarks of the African American experience thanks to the selfless investments in freedom and family” that Smalls made.

“Andrew Billingsley, a pioneering sociologist and former college president, tells a story that will keep readers rapt,” said Dr. Bobby Donaldson, professor of history and executive director of the Center for Civil Rights History and Research. “I had the honor of assisting Dr. Billingsley, my faculty mentor, with the historical research for the book, including visits to Beaufort. I know the
enormous energies he invested consulting collections and interviewing members of the Smalls family. I’m gratified to see ‘Yearning to Breathe Free’ released in a new format and made more widely available to new audiences.”

Before the event, guided tours of the “Justice for All” traveling exhibition with Center for Civil Rights History and Research staff will be available, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., at Darrah Hall of the Reconstruction Era National Historical Park, within the Penn Center National Historic Landmark District. Admission is free and open to the public.

The “Justice for All” traveling exhibition is based on the 2019 archival exhibition at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. The Center for Civil Rights History and Research created the exhibition collaboratively with South Carolina Humanities, University of South Carolina Libraries, and the College of Arts and Sciences. The traveling version is supported by funding from the Williams Companies, as part of a $1.5 million gift, and by South Carolina Humanities and Central Carolina Community Foundation. These events are in collaboration with The Reconstruction Era National Historical Park and USC Press. “Justice for All” will be on
exhibition at other sites in South Carolina through December 2023.