Africatown, U.S.A.

Slave Wrecks Project works with partners in Africatown, Alabama, conducting terrestrial archaeological work, swimming and scuba dive training with local youth groups, and other forms of public interpretation and engagement.

Woman holding up a sign that reads "Cudjo Lewis Union Baptist." In front of her men holding drums face away towards the rest of a band. Behind the woman other people march in a circle. Everyone is under a white tent.

In 2018, the Slave Wrecks Project (SWP) joined the effort to locate the Clotilda, the last known slave ship from Africa to land enslaved people in the United States, which brought captive Africans from Benin to Mobile Bay, Alabama, U.S.A., in 1862. The survivors from the Clotilda were sold into slavery in Alabama, and some founded the community of Africatown in Mobile. The residents of Africatown persisted despite racism, segregation, and dispossession of their land, and their descendants continue to fight for the recognition of their community and their history. The SWP participated in support of the Alabama Historical Commission (AHC) in archaeological work to locate and identify the wreck of the Clotilda. SWP continues to work with partners in Africatown, conducting terrestrial archaeological work, swimming and scuba dive training with local youth groups, and other forms of public interpretation.

Ongoing work continues in Africatown by SWP partners and colleagues, led by SI-NMAAHC. This work includes terrestrial archaeology, led by principal investigator Dr. Alexandra Jones; youth swimming and scuba dive training led by Diving With a Purpose; and other forms of public engagement to continue understand the legacies of slavery in Africatown and the broader world.

A painting of the Clotilda in Africatown, Alabama. Photo by Alabama Historical Commission/Keith Necaise.

History of the Clotilda

The Clotilda was a two-masted wooden ship owned by steamboat captain and shipbuilder Timothy Meaher. Meaher wagered another wealthy white man that he could bring a cargo of enslaved Africans aboard a ship into Mobile despite the 1807 Act Prohibiting the Importation of Slaves. In the autumn of 1860 Captain William Foster departed for West Africa and successfully smuggled 110 enslaved Africans from Dahomey into Mobile, with one person perishing during the Middle Passage. Africatown was founded by descendants of some of the enslaved people aboard the Clotilda, and it was the home to some of the last survivors of the transatlantic slave trade in the United States. The slavers burned the ship in Mobile Bay, where it was lost to history in the muddy waters of the bay until May 22, 2019, when the AHC and partners announced that the wreck had been located. 

 

Learn more about the search for the Clotilda and the advocacy of the Africatown community in the video below by National Geographic.

Three people stand in frame, the two on the sides of the center look into the distance while the person in the center looks into the camera. All three people have dark skin. The central person wears a brightly colored orange, blue, green, yellow, and red patterned cloth dress and matching hat. They wear a large necklace around their neck that is black and has beads. The person on the right wears a brown dress with a leopard print shawl, and a matching leopard bring head band with a bow. The person on the left wears a black collared shirt with a blue, orange, red, and white bowtie and matching scarf. They wear a hat that is blue, brown, and white.
Woman holding up a sign that reads "Cudjo Lewis Union Baptist." In front of her men holding drums face away towards the rest of a band. Behind the woman other people march in a circle. Everyone is under a white tent.

The Alabama Historical Commission announced that the Clotilda has been officially discovered in Mobile Bay on May 30, 2019. AHC - event photography by Keith Necaise.

A man wearing a yellow shirt and black and white hat looks towards the camera. He is sitting in a metal chair arranged for a presentation. People in the background stand around the presentation area. the man is holding a piece of paper to the camera reading, "Clotilda Discovery Celebration!! We Found it!"

Africatown resident at the announcement of the discovery of the Clotilda. Alabama Historical Commission, 2018.

Two men stand in the foreground, both are in wetsuits with water up to their knees. They are examining pieces of wood protruding up out of the water. the largest piece of wood has a pink flag sticking out of it and measuring equipment nearby. One man examines a clipboard. Behind them are two small boats with five other people visible on them.

Slave Wrecks Project International Leadership Team members Kamau Sadiki (DWP) and Dave Conlin (NPS-SRC) with SEARCH's Joe Grinnan surveying a wreck that was determined not to be the Clotilda in Alabama, 2019. Photo by Alabama Historical Commission.

A man stands in the middle of the frame, looking down at a clipboard. He stands in water up to knees. In the fore ground are several pieces of wood sticking up out of the water. On the largest piece of wood, sits two measuring devices. On the right side of the frame a boat's motor is visible. The background is divided between blue sky and brown water but a line of trees.

Slave Wrecks Project International Leadership Team member Kamau Sadiki (DWP) surveying a shipwreck in Alabama, 2019. Photo by Alabama Historical Commission.

Four people standing in front of "Mobile County Training School" building.

Africatown leaders in front of the Mobile County Training School. Photo by Kamau Sadiki, Slave Wrecks Project, 2018.

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