The Africatown Heritage House has earned national recognition as one of USA TODAY’s “2024 10Best Readers’ Choice travel award” for Best New Museum, as chosen by readers and website visitors.
A panel of industry experts, travel journalists and editors at USA TODAY chose Africatown Heritage House as one of 20 best new venues in the U.S. to represent what they consider to be the top museum openings of the past two years. The vote was open to the public to select the 10 best museums, with Africatown Heritage House earning the ninth spot.
The newly constructed building opened in the heart of historic Africatown, just north of downtown Mobile, on July 8, 2023, with the debut of Clotilda: The Exhibition. This installation invites visitors to experience the story of 110 extraordinary people who survived enslavement and founded the town of free people called Africatown.
“This museum is reshaping the Africatown community and changing humanity around the world for the better with every new visitor,” said Visit Mobile CEO, David Clark. “The people and heritage of Africatown are one of Mobile’s most poignant stories, and that is saying a great deal for a city more than 300 years old.”
The Clotilda, the last known American slave ship, made its illegal voyage to Mobile Bay in 1860, 52 years after the international slave trade was outlawed. In the years to come, the displaced Africans survived enslavement and established a community as free Americans. They maintained their African identities, creating the tight-knit, independent community known as Africatown.
For more information about the museum and to plan a visit, go to Mobile.org/Clotilda.
