How Clotilda Discovery Helped Africatown Grow in Mobile, Alabama

By John Sharp | jsharp@al.com Africatown Hall & Food bank began welcoming food deliveries Tuesday morning, less than two weeks after the $2.4 million venue was officially opened. Houses are under construction, and plans are still underway to build a Welcome Center near the Old Plateau Cemetery. And within the cemetery, archeologists and community volunteers are documenting gravesites in a first-of-its-kind effort to improve historical recordkeeping. It’s business as usual for one of the most historic communities in Alabama, despite its origins called into question this past weekend. The Wall Street Journal, in a piece published Saturday, asked the question on whether the Clotilda story was a hoax. According to journalist and author Erik Calonius, the story of the 110 enslaved Africans who were smuggled into Mobile 164 years ago, was a “fairy tale” and should be re-examined by historians and others. “We are in a season right now in our country where certain kinds of history are being suppressed,” Mobile County Commissioner Merceria Ludgood, whose commission district includes Africatown and who has been a chief supporter for redeveloping the community since the hull of the Clotilda was discovered in 2019. “The reality is until this country reckons with its...