Africatown Heritage House
Mobile and the entire Bay area has something special to celebrate with the opening of Clotilda: The Exhibition at Africatown Heritage House. Home to this incredible exhibition, Africatown Heritage House is a community space for sharing the long-untold story of the nation’s last known slave ship, the Clotilda, and the community that was created by the vessel’s survivors and their descendants. The exhibition occupies about 2,500 square feet of rich, multisensory space, dense with compelling stories and images.
““The responses from visitors are a testament as to why this exhibition was necessary. People are often moved to tears after touring the exhibit. There’s a shift that happens when people exit the Africatown Heritage House. It’s my hope that their transformation sparks interest in their own history and more support for the Africatown community.”
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Pieces of the sunken ship scientifically verified to be the Clotilda from 1860 have been recovered from the site of the wreck and are on view in the exhibition, on loan from the Alabama Historical Commission. The exhibition has been curated, developed, and designed by the History Museum of Mobile, in conjunction with the local community and the wider descendant community, and in consultation with experts around the country. The many stories are shared through a combination of interpretive text panels, documents, and artifacts. “Artifacts make the past proximate, bringing visitors face to face with history. As visitors learn the stories of the 110 men, women, and children aboard the Clotilda, we hope there’s a sense that the past is very much present,” said Dr. Meg McCrummen Fowler, Director of the History Museum of Mobile.
Woven into the larger story, visitors can see and hear many primary-source reports and stories of individuals: their histories, their families, their resilient spirit. Inside the exhibition, they can follow a step-by-step chronology from the story’s West African origins through the founding and development of Africatown. Toward the end of the exhibition, visitors emerge into a space that looks toward the future of Africatown and invites visitors to respond to what they have seen.
Both an educational and moving experience, visitors leave with the challenge to learn more and to become advocates for the community.
Africatown Heritage House
2465 Winbush Street Mobile, AL, 36610
251.206.5268 | Clotilda.com
