Clotilda: The Exhibition at Africatown Heritage House

One of our most poignant stories is that of the Clotilda.  In 1860, 52 years after the international slave trade had been outlawed, the secretly outfitted schooner Clotilda was used to smuggle 110 enslaved Africans into the United States, landing along the banks of the Mobile River.  In an attempt to conceal the crime, the schooner was burned and scuttled.  The Clotilda is the last known slave ship in the United States.  In 2019 the schooner was discovered in the waterways just north of downtown Mobile.  On July 8, the History Museum of Mobile will open the long-awaited exhibit Clotilda: The Exhibition in the newly constructed Africatown Heritage House.  The exhibit will contain artifacts from the schooner and tell the story of the extraordinary people who survived enslavement and founded a town of free people called Africatown.   

Opening July 8, 2023! Capacity is very limited and timed entry tickets are required. To make sure you’re able to experience Clotilda: The Exhibition on your preferred day, please purchase tickets online in advance of your visit. Exhibition opens to the public July 8, 2023. Click here to purchase tickets!

HOURS OF OPERATION

Tuesday – Saturday: 10 AM to 5 PM
Sunday – Monday: CLOSED

Dora Franklin Finley African-American Heritage Trail

“You can’t know where you are going unless you know where you’ve been.”  This is how the late Dora Franklin Finley began all her stories.  The architect of the Dora Franklin Finley African American Heritage Trail wanted to share all the contributions that African Americans made to Mobile with the world.  Her vision lives on today with a heritage trail that encompasses 40 points of interest, each celebrated with a historical marker.  When you tour the DFFAAHT, you will be introduced to Africatown, Stone Street Baptist Church established in 1807 and regarded as the mother church of all African American Baptist churches in Alabama, and the home of Betty Hunter who established a successful hack service in 1876.  You will be introduced to historical figures like Wallace Turnage, the inspiration for the book “A Slave No More.”  You will learn about Mobile’s great baseball legends including Leroy Robert “Satchal” Paige and “Hammering” Hank Aaron.  You will see the great historic churches and schools that played such important roles in the fabric of the African American communities.

To learn more about the African American experience in Mobile, there are a variety of tours that you can take from the storytellers of Africatown.  Walking tours, driving tours, boat tours and step-on guides are available.  Our heritage tours give you the opportunity to meet our storytellers and experience the many contributions African Americans have made to Mobile’s story. 

Our Hometown Sound

One of the best stories in Mobile is the story of the beloved Excelsior Band.  This African American brass band is believed to be the oldest marching jazz band in the United States.  The band was founded on November 23, 1883, by John Alexander Pope, fire chief of the Creole Fire Station #1, to celebrate the birth of his son.  The band marched in their first Mardi Gras parade in 1884 and still leads Mobile’s parades each and every year.  The Excelsior Band has been awarded the Alabama Folk Heritage Award by the Alabama State Council of the Arts, inducted into the Gulf Coast Ethnic Heritage Jazz Festival Hall of Fame, lead the Alabama Bicentennial Parade in 2019, and was recognized by the National Endowment of the Arts as a National Heritage Fellow in 2022.  It only takes listening to that iconic four-note blast from the trumpet player to know that the Excelsior Band is in the house!  Da-da-daaaa-da!  

As you move through the streets of our city, don’t miss the stories that surround you.  In Mardi Gras Park stop and view the original footings of Fort Conde, constructed in 1711 by African American and Native American enslaved people and five free men of color who worked as brick masons during construction.  In Cooper Riverside Park pause for a moment to read the prestigious UNESCO marker placed on the banks of the Mobile River. This is a site of memory for the Slave Route: Resistance, Liberty, Heritage trail honoring the memory of the ancestors.  For a more current history lesson, check out Unity Park, dedicated to former mayor Joseph Langan and civil rights leader John LeFlore, champions of desegregation in Mobile.  And the newest point-of-pride for our city is the mural located at Government and Bayou Streets.  The mural honors the legacy of the Figures family, leaders in justice and equality.