*Researchers from the Alabama Historical Commission will study the remains of the last U.S. slave ship, buried in mud on the Alabama coast since it was scuttled in 1860.
We reported previously that most of the wooden schooner remains intact, including the pen that was used to imprison African captives during the brutal journey across the Atlantic Ocean, reports the Associated Press.
The researchers have announced they will undergo a 10-day evaluation of the sunken remains of The Clotilda, per CBS News.
READ MORE: Researchers Say Wreckage of Last Known Slave Ship to the U.S. is ‘Mostly Intact’ (Video)
“How do you hold onto your humanity under the most inhumane circumstances?”
Descendants of passengers on the last American slave ship share their ancestors’ stories in #Clotilda, premiering Monday at 10/9c on National Geographic pic.twitter.com/nR7tn1SE1v
— National Geographic (@NatGeo) February 6, 2022
Here’s more from Complex:
The Clotilda illegally dropped off 110 West Africans on the Alabama coast in 1860 via the Mobile River. Salvage company Resolve Marine will now recover artifacts from the sunken ship, shown in previous news coverage above, as the company also looks to see if a full recovery of the ship itself could be a possibility in the future.
The ship—which had its voyage financed by Alabama businessman Timothy Meaher—was discovered back in 2019, when researchers found that most the of the ship remained intact. Resolve Marine, alongside the state of Alabama and SEARCH Inc., is developing a plan to conserve the findings as it sees funding from a $1 million state appropriation.
“It is a tremendous duty to ensure the Clotilda is evaluated and preserved,” project manager Aaron Jozsef said.
“It’s the most intact (slave ship) wreck ever discovered,” said maritime archaeologist James Delgado of the Florida-based SEARCH Inc. “It’s because it’s sitting in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta with fresh water and in mud that protected it that it’s still there.”
Jozsef said the work “will add to the collective understanding of the vessel and the site’s potential to yield significant archaeological information about the ship and its final voyage.”
Descendants of passengers on the Clotilda share their ancestors’ stories in a National Geographic program titled “Clotilda: Last American Slave Ship,” which is available to view on Disney+.
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