Alabama
Darron Patterson on the legacy of Africatown, Mobile:
“The importation of enslaved people to the USA was abolished in 1808. But, in 1860, wealthy landowner and businessman Timothy Meaher made a bet that he could bring a ship loaded with Africans to Mobile, right under the noses of the authorities. That was when he commissioned the Clotilda.
"On arrival in Mobile, the 110 people onboard were enslaved until Abraham Lincoln established the Emancipation Proclamation (1863) and the 13th Amendment was ratified in 1865. The survivors asked to return home – they were told no. Instead, they worked for little to no money for Meaher in Mobile and established Africatown. There they built schools and churches, carried on their customs, and the community thrived.
"My great, great grandfather, Kupollee, was on the Clotilda, and I grew up in Africatown. But a lot of polluting industrial facilities were built here in the 20th century and the community was in decline by the time a local writer discovered the remains of the ship in 2019. That’s when things began to change.
"The Africatown Heritage House museum opened in 2023. Visitors can see pieces of the ship, West African artefacts and videos of the Clotilda descendants. We’re working
to bring the community back to what it was, and doing work on the cemetery where our ancestors are buried. We don’t ever want to forget the plight of the 110.”
Darron Patterson is a Clotilda descendant and the former president of the Clotilda Descendants Association. Clotilda.com
Read the article in its entirety from the UK's Wanderlust Magazine.