When you are planning your next trip to Mobile, Alabama, be sure to allocate time for a visit to “The Exhibition.”ClotildaThe exhibition narrates the account of the planning and execution of the last documented illegal transport of 110 enslaved Africans into the United States in 1860. Clotilda The Exhibition tracks the journey of how the African individuals were transported to Mobile and what occurred to them after slavery was abolished.
What is The Clotilda?
The bringing in of enslaved individuals was forbidden in the United States in 1808. However, the slave trade remained legal until 1865. Local Mobile businessman Timothy Meaher bet in 1860 that he could dispatch a ship to West Africa to bring back more people to enslave without facing punishment. Meaher won that bet.
The Clotilda Clotilda is the ship that brought 110 Africans to Mobile, Alabama, for enslavement. It is the final known U.S. slave ship. If the story of Clotilda seems familiar, you may have read the book Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” by Zora Neale Hurston. Hurston interviewed a man named Kossola (who later changed his name to Cudjo Lewis) — one of the 110 people stolen from West Africa — and wrote a manuscript about their conversations. Clotilda Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” by Zora Neale Hurston. Hurston interviewed a man named Kossola (who later changed his name to Cudjo Lewis) — one of the 110 people stolen from West Africa — and wrote a manuscript about their conversations.
Unfortunately, the book stayed unpublished for over 90 years; no publisher was willing to keep the African dialect Hurston quoted in the book, instead wanting an English translation. A literary agent found the manuscript in the Howard University archives and finally published it in 2018.
Africatown Heritage House
After the end of the Civil War in 1865, survivors formed a community in what is now called Africatown. A present-day extension of the History Museum of Mobile, the building and exhibit featuring the ship was created in collaboration with scholars, survivors' descendants, and current Africatown community members. Clotilda survivors' descendants, and current Africatown community members. Clotilda survivors' descendants, and current Africatown community members.
Curating the Exhibit
The exhibition flows chronologically, describing the survivors' West African homeland through enslavement, emancipation, and the establishment of the Africatown community. The exhibit's conclusion reflects on the future of Africatown and invites visitors' responses. Those who want more in-depth storytelling can access iPads with oral histories about Africatown. Clotilda and Africatown.
In addition to pieces of the vessel, the exhibit includes primary sources such as previous interviews with the survivors and other historical documents. History Museum of Mobile asserts that the exhibition's focus has always been the people of the Clotilda. The artifacts of the ship are simply a means of telling their stories. Clotilda.What was the Fate of the Clotilda?
The original plan was to send the ship to Mexico for cleaning and re-outfitting. She would get a new name and return to the U.S. for sale. Something went awry, and the captain lit the ship on fire and sank her somewhere in Mobile Bay. The Clotilda's remains were discovered in 2018.
Researching the Shipwreck of the Clotilda ClotildaImage Credit: Amy Albers.
One of the archaeologists involved in researching the ship's remains is Stacye Hathorn of the Alabama Historical Commission (AHC). Hathorn explained that the AHC “does the scientific analysis and then brings the results to the community.”
, her initial reaction was, “Every child in Alabama needs to learn this story.” Hathorn collaborated with divers like Kamau Sadiki, lead instructor and
Diving With a Purpose Clotildaboard member. Sadiki is one of only two African-American divers to enter the cargo hold of a known slave ship. He describes the experience as “diving in Braille” because it's too dark to see the shipwreck's depth. “Listen with your hands for the voices that are still screaming on this vessel,” he said. The Memory Keeper
Outside the Africatown Heritage House stands “The Memory Keeper” statue. A collaboration between Mobile artists Charles Smith and Frank Ledbetter, the work is similar to bronze and cast iron plaques hung in palaces of West Africa centuries ago. The statue is a four-panel storyboard representing Africatown's past, present, and future.
Standing 9 feet tall, 2 feet, 8 inches wide, and 1 foot, eight inches deep, the statue has no “back” or “front.” Interpretation begins on whatever panel a visitor first sees. Mentioned on exhibit materials, the panels contain symbols depicting “themes of origin, family, survival, and resilience.”
: The Exhibition
Image Credit: Amy Albers.
Visiting Clotildaopened on July 8th, 2023, the 163rd anniversary of the
The exhibition due to limited capacity. Africatown Heritage House is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. If you're vacationing in Clotilda , Africatown is just an hour away and well worth the drive. in advance Other Sites of Interest in Africatown Gulf ShoresClose by are sites that tell more of the
survivors' stories. The Mobile County Training School was established in 1880 and is one of the country's only remaining “Rosenwald Schools.” Sears president Julius Rosenwald funded nearly 5000 of these schools for underserved students.
I found the Old Plateau Cemetery fascinating. The northern part of the graveyard holds the remains of the Clotilda survivors, many of whose tombstones are facing toward Africa. Nearby is a beautiful mural depicting the Clotilda along U.S. 90 near a bridge that leads into Africatown. Finally, be sure to stop at the Union Missionary Baptist Church, established by the Africatown community in 1869.
Learn the Story of the Clotilda and Her Survivors
For a long time, people didn't believe the stories of The Clotilda . They dismissed the oral histories passed down to descendants. That changed with the discovery of the ship's remains in 2018. Take the opportunity to learn the whole story and pay tribute to the last enslaved Africans imported to America.
Suggested Reading, listed by date published: ClotildaHistorical Sketches of the South by Emma Langdon Roche, 1914
The Slave Ship
- and the Making of AfricaTown, USA: Spirit of Our Ancestors by Natalie S. Robertson, 2008
- Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” by Zora Neale Hurston, 2018 Clotilda The Last Slave Ship: The True Story of How
- Was Found, Her Descendants, and an Extraordinary Reckoning by Ben Raines, 2022
- : The History and Archaeology of the Last Slave Ship by James P. Delgado, Deborah E. Marx, Kyle Lent, Joseph Grinnan, and Alexander DeCaro, 2023 Clotilda When planning your next trip to Mobile, Alabama, be sure to make time to visit “Clotilda: The Exhibition.” The exhibition tells the story of the planning and execution of the last known illegal importation of 110 enslaved Africans into the United States in 1860. Clotilda the Exhibition follows how the African people were brought to Mobile and what…
- Clotilda: The History and Archaeology of the Last Slave Ship by James P. Delgado, Deborah E. Marx, Kyle Lent, Joseph Grinnan, and Alexander DeCaro, 2023
