Clotilda: The Exhibition at the Africatown Heritage House
2023-06-19
Mobile, Alabama (June 19, 2023) —Tickets to Africatown Heritage House, the site that will be home to “Clotilda: The Exhibition” and share the long-untold story of the last known slave ship to arrive in the United States, will be available on Clotilda.com beginning at 10 am today. The facility will officially open to the public on Saturday, July 8 … the 163rd anniversary of the date when 110 Africans were illegally brought into the United States.
The exhibit, which is a site of the History Museum of Mobile, tells a big story in a small space. It’s an area that’s not so much larger than the ship that transported the 110 back in 1860 – 52 years after international slave trade became illegal – and then was burned and sunk to cover up the crime that had been committed. How the group survived and went on to create the only community established and governed entirely by African-born Americans is a story that has long needed to be shared. Now it finally will be.
Due to space limitations, tickets for Clotilda: The Exhibition are timed and should be reserved online in advance of a visit. Tickets can be purchased up to 60 days in advance. Guests are strongly encouraged to reserve their tickets online so they’re ensured a time slot to view the exhibit on their preferred day.
Effective July 8, Africatown Heritage House will be open Tuesdays through Saturdays, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Admission is $15 for adults; $9 for guests ages 65 or more, students age 18 or more with a valid school ID, and active or retired military with ID; $8 for children ages 6 to 18; free for children 5 and under; and free for Mobile County residents with proof of residency (though donations are encouraged). Admission is also free to members of the History Museum of Mobile, which operates the exhibition. Visitors interested in purchasing a museum membership may visit this site. Everyone – including those with free admission – must hold a timed ticket.
Saturday, July 8 is “Africatown Community Day,” and the site expects to attract very large crowds. Streets will be blocked and parking will be off-site, though shuttles will be available. Though everyone is welcome to join the celebration outside at Africatown Heritage House, only the limited number of visitors who have secured tickets for the day will be permitted inside the building. Tickets for opening day are expected to sell out quickly. Absolutely no tickets will be sold ON July 8, and there can be no admittance to the building (including for restrooms or the gift shop) without a ticket or at a time different from the one stated on a valid ticket.
“Clotilda: The Exhibition” will focus on 110 men, women and children, whose stories are shared through a combination of interpretive text panels, documents and artifacts, including some pieces of the sunken ship scientifically verified to be the Clotilda.
For a growing set of press materials about the facility and the 110 people who will be honored there, please check here.
MEDIA CONTACT
Melissa Harville, Marketing & Events Manager
History Museum of Mobile
melissa.harville@historymuseumofmobile.com
251-301-0273