Africatown Descendants Celebrate Confirmation That the Clotilda Has Been Found

For generations, families in Africatown passed down a story that outsiders often treated as legend: that the last known ship to bring enslaved Africans into the United States had been sunk and hidden somewhere in the murky waters of the Mobile River. Last week, that story became documented history. The Alabama Historical Commission announced that a shipwreck discovered in a previously unsearched stretch of the Mobile River has been positively identified as the Clotilda, the schooner that illegally carried 110 captive men, women and children from present-day Benin to Mobile in 1860, more than five decades after the United States banned the importation of slaves. Cleon Jones, president of the Africatown Community Development Corporation, said the confirmation validated stories he heard from his parents and grandparents throughout his life.

“We’ve been taught all this, all our lives,” Jones said. “I’ve even fished in the area where the Clotilda was laying dormant. I was quite confident we would be celebrating the finding of this great ship.” Alabama Historical Commission Executive Director Lisa Demetropoulos Jones called the discovery an extraordinary archaeological find. “The voyage represented one of the darkest eras of modern history and is a profound discovery of the tangible evidence of slavery,” she said in a statement.

“This new discovery brings the tragedy of slavery into focus while witnessing the triumph and resilience of the human spirit in overcoming the horrific crime that led to the establishment of Africatown.” Historical accounts describe how Timothy Meaher and Captain William Foster orchestrated the Clotilda’s voyage as a wager that they could smuggle enslaved Africans into Mobile without being caught by federal authorities. After delivering the captives, the two men attempted to destroy the evidence of their crime by burning the ship and scuttling its remains, then dispersing the enslaved Africans among various captors. Many of those survivors remained enslaved until the end of the Civil War, after which they pooled resources to purchase land north of Mobile and founded the community now known as Africatown.

The renewed search effort that led to this month’s confirmation traces back to early 2018, when a local reporter’s claim to have found the wreck turned out to be inaccurate. Though that specific vessel was not the Clotilda, the episode reignited public interest in solving the long-standing mystery and prompted state officials to organize a more rigorous search. Under the federal Abandoned Shipwrecks Act, the Alabama Historical Commission and the State Historic Preservation Office are responsible for managing and protecting maritime archaeological sites embedded in the state’s waters.

Acting on that authority, the commission assembled a team of researchers from the Black Heritage Council, the National Geographic Society, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Slave Wrecks Project, Diving With a Purpose and the National Park Service. Maritime archaeologist Dr. James Delgado and the firm Search Inc. led the fieldwork, which focused on a stretch of the Mobile River that had not previously been surveyed. Initial historical research and sonar surveys identified as many as two dozen vessels resting in the search area, ranging from the 19th to the 20th centuries. Underwater excavation eventually isolated one wreck whose dimensions and construction closely matched historical descriptions of the Clotilda.

“Utilizing the latest scientific techniques and in-depth archival research, the team identified a target for further investigation and excavation,” said Eric Sipes, a senior archaeologist with the state. Over the course of roughly a year, researchers conducted forensic analysis in laboratories operated by Search Inc. and National Geographic, cross-referenced original shipping and customs documents, and consulted with independent maritime historians. That work led to the conclusion that the wreck is very likely the Clotilda, a finding that was then independently reviewed and confirmed by a panel of outside experts. Investigators pointed to several converging lines of evidence. The wreck’s size, structural dimensions and building materials, including locally sourced lumber and iron fittings, matched historic registry specifications for the Clotilda almost exactly.

The ship’s construction techniques indicated it was built before 1870. Char marks found on the wreck were also consistent with Foster’s own account of burning the vessel after running it aground. In a survey of historical shipping records covering the entire Gulf of Mexico region, including the Port of Mobile, researchers found only four schooners of matching size among roughly 1,500 vessels reviewed. Of those four, only the Clotilda fit every remaining detail. With the identification considered scientifically sound, the Alabama Historical Commission says its focus is now shifting toward protecting the wreck site and determining what, if anything, can safely be done with the remains. “Additional archaeological research will help us to learn more details about the story of the Clotilda and its survivors,” said State Archaeologist Stacye Hathorne.

“It is important to preserve the site so that additional research may be conducted and the story may emerge.” Dr. James Delgado, the maritime archaeologist who led the fieldwork, said the team approached the identification cautiously given the absence of a nameplate or bell bearing the ship’s name. “We are cautious about placing names on shipwrecks that no longer bear a name or something like a bell with the ship’s name on it,” Delgado said. “But the physical and forensic evidence powerfully suggests that this is Clotilda.” Alabama Historical Commission Chairman Walter Givhan said the commission is now working with state and local agencies to secure the wreck site against looting or unauthorized disturbance now that the identification has been confirmed.

“The State of Alabama holds this artifact as an irreplaceable cultural treasure and will prosecute any tampering or encroachment to the fullest extent of the law,” Givhan said. “With the confirmation of this discovery, the responsibility to preserve it only increases, and the Alabama Historical Commission will continue to assess security needs and the most effective way to meet them.”

Other project partners echoed the weight of the find. Kamau Sadiki, a member of the Slave Wrecks Project who sat on the peer review team, called the discovery “the final nautical bookend to one of the most horrific periods in American and world history” and said he hoped it would bring “a comforting peace to the Africatown descendants” as a process of community and memory restoration begins. SEARCH Inc. CEO Anne Stokes said the project was a reminder of why archaeological work matters to communities like Africatown, while Fredrik Hiebert, archaeologist-in-residence at the National Geographic Society, said the organization was honored to have supported the scientific research behind the find. Alabama Historical Commission Assistant Executive Director Clara Nobles framed the discovery as a step toward reconciliation between Africatown, the state and the nation, adding that “the larger story here is the people and what they were able to accomplish.” Clotilda descendant Joycelyn Davis said Africatown’s leadership and citizens “look forward to working with the AHC and project partners to tell our story and move forward as a community.”

In Africatown, the discovery has sharpened community hopes for a long-planned welcome center.

Jones said the community has already secured more than $3 million in BP oil spill settlement funds to build the facility, and he believes some connection to the Clotilda, whether through artifacts, a memorial or educational exhibits, could strengthen the project. “I’d like to see it in the community,” Jones said of any memorial tied to the ship. “We could bring it to the same property as the welcome center.” Karlos Finley, immediate past president of the Dora Franklin Finley African-American Heritage Trail, said he supports that vision and believes a full-scale replica of the Clotilda could eventually be built on site, potentially rivaling the impact of the Legacy Museum in Montgomery.

“There could be holograms from the bowels of the ship that tell the stories of those who crossed the Atlantic Ocean,” Finley said. “It could be the most powerful thing people could see.” Both Jones and Finley said they hope the international attention drawn by the discovery translates into economic opportunity for Africatown, bringing visitors from around the world to learn the history of the community and the people who built it.

Africatown’s History

Among the Clotilda’s survivors was Cudjo Lewis, born Oluale Kossola, who lived in Africatown until his death in 1935 and was one of the last known survivors of the transatlantic slave trade. Author Zora Neale Hurston interviewed him in the late 1920s, and her account was published in 2018 as the book “Barracoon.” Africatown was added to the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district in 2012.

Update: In July 2023, Clotilda: The Exhibition opened at the Africatown Heritage House, displaying artifacts recovered from the wreck.

Related coverage from South AL News

• Africatown Community Leaders Announce Investigation Into Possible Clotilda Wreckage
• Historical Commission Rules Out Mobile-Tensaw Delta Wreck as the Clotilda
• Underwater Survey of Mobile River Wraps Up, Search for Clotilda Continues
• Alabama Historical Commission Launches Survey to Map Mobile River Shipwrecks