The Underrated Tour Every Alabama History Buff Needs To Add To Their Bucket List

Uncover the powerful story of the last known slave ship to arrive in the US at Africatown Heritage House, a new museum in Mobile, Alabama. The schooner Clotilda illegally transported over 100 enslaved Africans across the Atlantic to Mobile Bay, arriving on July 9, 1860. Five years later the Civil War's end brought freedom to these men and women. Sadly, they could not afford passage back to their homeland. Instead, they set up a community now called Africatown, which is on the National Register of Historic Places and a UNESCO Site of Memory.

In early 2018, Alabama journalist Ben Raines discovered the Clotilda's wreckage in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta. Low tides revealed parts of the ship, and researchers went to work to confirm the find. The Alabama Historical Commission made it official the following year.

While word is still getting out about the new museum, Africatown Heritage House quickly garnered national acclaim after it opened in July 2023. National Geographic named it the Best Museum Opening of 2023. It also earned the ninth spot in USA Today's 2024 10Best Readers' Choice Awards for Best New Museum.  Let's get a glimpse into what you'll find there.

When you arrive, a thoughtful art installation welcomes you to the grounds museum grounds. The sculpture "The Memory Keeper," is the work of artists Charles Smith and Frank Ledbetter.

Inside, the 2,500-square-foot multi-sensory exhibition guides you through a chronological exploration of the captives' West African origins, Africatown's founding, and the Clotilda discovery. The narrative culminates in a forward-looking reflection on Africatown's future and continued preservation. There is also space dedicated for guests to reflect and share insights about their experience.

Many accounts about the people of Africatown's histories, familial bonds, and resilient spirit weave throughout the exhibit.

You'll learn about a significant leader in Africatown's development, Kossola (Cudjoe) Lewis. A Yoruba man from present-day Benin, Africa, Lewis was among the enslaved people who made the 72-day passage aboard the Clotilda. He was Africatown's storyteller and helped found the town as well as the Union Baptist Church, where a monument of him stands today.

Lewis passed in 1935, and his gravesite is in the Old Plateau Cemetery, the Africatown Graveyard. He was our nation's last known survivor of the Atlantic slave trade.

Many partnerships and collaborations went into the new Africatown Heritage House and exhibition. The Mobile County Commission and the City of Mobile funded the building's construction. The History Museum of Mobile brought its expertise in curating and funding the Clotilda exhibition as well as operating the museum. For the exhibition, The Alabama Historical Commission loaned pieces of the Clotilda recovered from the ship's wreckage.

We know you'll be moved by this compelling exhibit at the new museum in Mobile, Alabama. You can find current operating hours for Clotilda: The Exhibition at Africatown Heritage House on the museum's website. Keep up with the latest lecture events and other educational opportunities by following the Clotilda exhibition Facebook page.

If you're intrigued about this era of history and like to learn through delicious food (who doesn't?), you absolutely must check out this Masterclass with Micheal W. Twitty, a James Beard Book Award-Winning Author of The Cooking Gene. Twitty wrote the book after many years of researching his African American heritage and how it shaped his tastes and modern-day menus. There's even one class that focuses specifically on the foodways of the transatlantic slave trade.

We'd love to hear what you create in your own kitchen and the insights you gain when visiting Africatown Heritage House.