Smalls’ youngest granddaughter, Birdella Kinney, had been trying for more than a year to get her grandfather the degree and organize the ceremony. Speakers at the graduation ceremony included District Superintendent Keith Price and Georgetown Mayor Carol Zero.
Smalls was born on February 5, 1918 in the Plantersville area of Georgetown County. They are seven siblings. Kinney told ABC 15 News that Smalls was raised by his grandmother Daphne Greggs and aunt Ella Walker.
Smalls attended fifth grade at an unnamed school in the woods in Plantersville, Kinney said. When Smalls was 15 years old, he was converted to Christianity at Mount Carmel Baptist Church in Plantersville, SC.
Smalls then moved to another town in South Carolina, Mullins, to work in a tobacco factory. His parents and siblings lived there. Smalls then studied there until the eighth grade. From there he moved to Washington DC.
Smalls worked various jobs including janitorial work at the apartment building. He worked in Washington DC for a long time. He retired in the 1960s under President John F. Kennedy.
