The Clotilda, the last known ship to bring enslaved people from Africa to the United States, was found in Alabama in 2019.
The researchers say that the wreck is well-preserved. The hold below the main deck was the location of the final resting place of over 100 people who were imprisoned during the ship's final journey from Benin to Mobile in 1860.
The researchers said it was possible that the hull could be filled with silt. Provisions used to hold captives could be found inside.
The time capsule is cracked open and it is still there, according to an archaeologist who is helping to study the site.
The Clotilda was going to be removed so that researchers could analyze the wood and debris to see if there was any trace of a particular region or descendants.
The Clotilda was listed on the National Register of Historic Places last month, giving it added protection, as officials in Alabama continued to research the site to determine what should happen to the wreck. National Geographic reported this week that the ship was mostly intact.
Historians and descendants of those who were transported on the ship hope that the research will draw attention to the stories of the enslaved people on board, who eventually formed their own community, Africatown, in Mobile, after the end of the Civil War.
Sylviane A. Diouf, a historian who has written about the Clotilda, said that the ship has shed light on the whole story. The people were on the Clotilda for about six weeks. They said they never wanted to see it again.
The Alabama Historical Commission said in a report that the Clotilda should be added to the National Register of Historic Places because it provides a unique opportunity to enter the hold where men, women and children were transported during the 45 day voyage from West Africa to Alabama.
The space was small, cramped and suffocating: 23 feet long, 18 feet wide and less than seven feet high.
The president of the Clotilda Descendants Association said that his great-great-grandfather arrived in Alabama on the ship as an enslaved teenager.
Mr. Patterson was hoping that Alabama officials could display the vessel.
It takes a lot of evil to treat humans like cargo. We would like for that ship to be on display.
If it is possible, it would be costly.
The image is.
There is a mural of the Clotilda in Mobile, Alabama.
The Alabama Historical Commission said it had hired researchers, engineers and others to study the site.
The data will be used to develop a plan to address the effects of erosion and to determine if the site should be stable. The commission said that the riverbed could be used to build a memorial.
The Alabama Historical Commission takes its role as the legal guardian of Clotilda very seriously, according to Lisa D. Jones, the commission's executive director. The Clotilda is a stark reminder of what happened during the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
Congress banned the importation of enslaved people more than half a century ago, which is why the Clotilda's final voyage was done illegally.
The Clotilda's captain burned and scuttled the ship after it arrived in Mobile in 1860 to hide evidence of his trade. Researchers said that the ship has remained in the same spot ever since.
Some of the people who had been transported on the Clotilda asked their former enslaver, Timothy Meaher, to give them land after the Civil War, according to Dr. Diouf.
Africatown was formed when the formerly enslaved workers bought land from Mr. Meaher and others.
She said it was a story of resistance. They acted as a community and family from the beginning and continued to be active after they were free.
Joycelyn Davis, who lives in Africatown and is a descendant of Charlie Lewis, said she hoped that archaeologists could find barrels and other items as well as DNA that could be linked to descendants.
She said she was anxious to see what they could bring up. We found the ship and it brought us some closure. It is mind-blowing that it is intact.
The stories of Africatown and the survivors of the Clotilda have attracted more attention since researchers confirmed the wreck's identity in 2019.
The documentary "Descendant" about the Clotilda and her descendants will be shown at the festival. The descendants plan to hold a festival in February.
The people in the cargo hold were able to overcome evil, even though there was a certain amount of evil involved.
