Africatown Heritage House Museum another step closer to completion

By TYLER FINGERT

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    MOBILE, Alabama (WALA) — After years of work, the Africatown Heritage House museum is another step closer to completion.

Part of the pre-fabricated building was delivered to the site on Friday and work is underway to get it assembled.

The Clotilda is the last known slave ship to arrive in the U.S. and soon Mobile County will open a museum meant to never forget it.

“This is huge to have the parts showing up and being assembled,” said Sharee Broussard, Mobile County Director of Public Affairs.

The Africatown Heritage House museum has been years in the making.

The $1.3 million community project has been spearheaded by Mobile County Commissioner Merceria Ludgood.

Construction of the building is set to take several months until it will be handed over to the History Museum of Mobile to install the exhibits.

“The History Museum of Mobile is putting together an exhibit of the 110 enslaved West Africans who were brought to Alabama on the Clotilda and the story of the community that was formed afterward,” Broussard said.

Mobile County leaders hope this museum helps spur tourism in the Africatown community and provides a place for learning for years to come.

“It’s an important story, it’s an inspirational story and hopefully it will be an educational experience for everyone and it will provide a tangible link to the past,” Broussard said.

It is going to be months before the museum opens. They are expecting the ribbon cutting to be sometime mid next year.

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