Dr. Hannah Durkin discusses the details of the last slave ship in America
Discussion on her newest book 'The Clotilda'
By Marquis Lupton
Aired; February 23rd, 2024.
Despite the U.S. banning the importation of enslaved individuals from Africa in 1808, the insatiable demand for slave labor in the burgeoning cotton trade led Alabama plantation owners, such as Timothy Meaher, to venture into illegal slave runs. Meaher’s audacious bet to bring a shipload of Africans back across the ocean materialized in 1860 when his schooner set sail from Mobile to the Kingdom of Dahomey under Captain William Foster. The vessel discreetly entered Mobile Bay under the cloak of darkness and navigated the Mobile River, bringing Africans captured by warring tribes back to Alabama. Some of the enslaved were shared between Foster and the Meahers, while others were sold. To conceal the illicit activities, Foster ordered the Clotilda, the ship used for the voyage, to be taken upstream, burned, and sunk.
The survivors of the Clotilda, liberated by Union soldiers in 1865, aspired to return to Africa but faced financial constraints. Overcoming adversity, they pooled their wages earned from various endeavors, including selling vegetables and working in fields and mills, to purchase land from the Meaher family. The establishment of Africatown ensued, a testament to their resilience. This new settlement embodied their roots, featuring a chief, a system of laws, churches, and a school. Descendants, including individuals like Woods, continue to inhabit Africatown, witnessing the validation and vindication of their ancestors’ stories.
Dr. Hannah Durkin, a distinguished historian specializing in transatlantic slavery and African diasporic art and culture, plays a pivotal role in preserving this history. With a Ph.D. in American Studies and extensive teaching experience, she advises the History Museum of Mobile, working towards memorializing the Clotilda survivors. Dr. Durkin’s expertise extends to her role as the keynote speaker at Africatown’s 2021 Spirit of Our Ancestors Festival, founded by the Clotilda Descendants Association. Her numerous academic accolades, including a Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship, underscore her commitment to illuminating the historical significance of events like the Clotilda’s journey and the resilience of its survivors.
