#Hannah Durkin

[judgingbooksbycovers]

The Survivors of the Clotilda: The Lost Stories of the Last Captives of the American Slave Trade

By Hannah Durkin.

Design by Mike McQuade.

[newhistorybooks]

"In recent years, British historian Hannah Durkin has made headlines with her discoveries about survivors of the slave ship Clotilda. Now she has delivered a landmark book mapping out not just a handful of such stories, but an entire tragic diaspora….The latest addition to the growing shelf of literature on the Clotilda will be eye-opening even for anyone who has read every preceding work."

[theroseandthebeast]

Yuletide Recs, Batch Four

18 recs for North and South, The OC, Ocean's 8, Ocean's Eleven, Only Murders in the Building, Penny Dreadful, Peter Pan, Piranesi, Point Break, and Poker Face

Keeping True, Gen, John Thornton + Hannah Thornton + Fanny Thornton + Maria Hale + Nicholas Higgins + Mill Workers

Five views of Mr Thornton.

"if you weren't real i would make you up", Ryan Atwood & Summer Roberts + Seth Cohen/Summer Roberts

Tell the truth, but tell it like it’s a lie. Ryan Atwood grows up, and his relationships grow up with him.

Magpie, Ryan Atwood & Sandy Cohen + Ryan Atwood & Kirsten Cohen + Ryan Atwood/Marissa Cooper

Going fast enough, there was motion to it, and shape. The wires dipped in-between the poles, then curved back upward, then back down again - a never ending parabolic curve, like a child's drawing of ocean waves. He would imagine different creatures running on top of the wires - tigers, pandas, lions, cheetahs, or even a little miniature version of himself - running and leaping, keeping up with the car. He'd follow the horizon this way too - holding up one of his toy army men and lining up its legs with the line where the land met the sky. On the interstate, outside of the city, driving past farms and craggy hills and suburban enclaves, bunches of houses crowded up in little clusters like fungus erupting through the cracks in a tree's bark - everything looked like a toy. Like he could roll down the window and just scoop everything up, pull the whole world inside to look at it closer.

Encountering the Nova, Lou Miller/Debbie Ocean

Galaxies of women, there doing penance for impetuousness. Debbie and Lou meet cute.

somebody else's wallet, Danny Ocean/Rusty Ryan

When you look at another man for too long, you risk giving several things away.

What Really Happened with Marco, Danny Ocean/Rusty Ryan

Rusty visits Danny's grave, and remembers. Meanwhile, everyone has a story to tell about Danny and Rusty.

in the meantime, wait and see, Oliver Putnam/Charles-Haden Savage

Mabel Mora loves her old guys dearly, but she is getting tired of them sabotaging each other’s love lives.

1/3 Of What You're Saying, Theo Dimas/Mabel Mora

She dreams of puzzle pieces again, that first night at Theo’s. (Mabel and Theo as roommates, figuring it out.)

An Ingenue Looks at Seventy, Loretta Durkin/Oliver Putnam

Maybe this time, Loretta will get everything she ever dreamed of. Or at least a bigger piece of it.

ignition, Theo Dimas/Mabel Mora

“So, do I need to be worried about you getting with a murderer too, or can I reserve that particular worry for Charles and Charles alone?” Or, everyone seems to know before they do.

Dark Days Coming, Ethan Chandler/Vanessa Ives + Ethan Chandler & Vanessa Ives + Vanessa Ives/Hecate Poole + Ethan Chandler/Hecate Poole

Hecate makes a plan.

Somebody to Watch Over Me, Wendy Darling/James Hook

The Hook she had made up would never smile at a girl as if she were the most interesting person in the world and then tell her that of course, he would patiently await her decision.

Growing Pains, Wendy Darling/James Hook

Wendy knew Hook wasn't propositioning her to join his crew out of the non-existent goodness of his heart. Enchanting his eyes might be, but the coldness in them seeped right into her bones.

The Sixth Statue, Gen, Piranesi | Matthew Rose Sorensen + The House

Matthew Rose Sorensen explores the House.

The Reality of Shadows, Gen, Sixteen | Sarah Raphael

"And when he remembered his old habitation, and the wisdom of the den and his fellow-prisoners, do you not suppose that he would felicitate himself on the change, and pity them? Certainly, he would. … Yes, he said, I think that he would rather suffer anything than entertain these false notions and live in this miserable manner." - Plato, The Republic

The Waters below the Nineteenth Eastern Hall, The House + Piranesi | Matthew Rose Sorensen

Between the Eleventh and Fifteenth days of the Sixth Month in the Year the Albatross Came to the South-western Halls, there are days for which nothing was recorded. To fit into that space: a reflection on certain surprising Elements of the House.

lay my heart down, Bodhi/Johnny Utah

“Hey,” Bodhi says, soaked right down to the bone. “Room for an old friend?” Johnny takes a step back like he’s seen a ghost. “What the fuck?”

Ways to Disappear, Charlie Cale/Original Female Character

Charlie finds a place to stay awhile.

[ulkaralakbarova]

The adventures of two amiably aimless metal-head friends, Wayne and Garth. From Wayne’s basement, the pair broadcast a talk-show called “Wayne’s World” on local public access television. The show comes to the attention of a sleazy network executive who wants to produce a big-budget version of “Wayne’s World”—and he also wants Wayne’s girlfriend, a rock singer named Cassandra. Wayne and Garth have to battle the executive not only to save their show, but also Cassandra. Credits: TheMovieDb. Film Cast: Wayne Campbell: Mike Myers Garth Algar: Dana Carvey Benjamin Kane: Rob Lowe Cassandra: Tia Carrere Stacy: Lara Flynn Boyle Dreamwoman: Donna Dixon Security Guard: Chris Farley Noah Vanderhoff: Brian Doyle-Murray Alan: Michael DeLuise Tiny: Meat Loaf Bad Cop / T-1000: Robert Patrick Alice Cooper: Alice Cooper Glen: Ed O’Neill Mrs. Vanderhoff: Colleen Camp Terry: Lee Tergesen Russell Finley: Kurt Fuller Davy: Mike Hagerty Ron Paxton: Charles Noland Elyse: Ione Skye Frankie Sharp: Frank DiLeo Waitress: Robin Ruzan Officer Koharski: Frederick Coffin Old Man Withers: Carmen Filpi Film Crew: Original Music Composer: J. Peter Robinson Screenplay: Mike Myers Executive Producer: Hawk Koch Director of Photography: Theo van de Sande Director: Penelope Spheeris Producer: Lorne Michaels Editor: Malcolm Campbell Stunts: Hannah Kozak Stunts: Alisa Christensen Associate Producer: Dinah Minot Associate Producer: Barnaby Thompson Screenplay: Bonnie Turner Screenplay: Terry Turner Casting: Glenn Daniels Production Design: Gregg Fonseca Second Unit Director: Allan Graf First Assistant Director: John Hockridge Second Assistant Director: Joseph J. Kontra Set Decoration: Jay Hart Camera Operator: Martin Schaer “B” Camera Operator: David Hennings First Assistant Camera: Henry Tirl First Assistant “B” Camera: Peter Mercurio Steadicam Operator: Elizabeth Ziegler Script Supervisor: Adell Aldrich Sound Mixer: Tom Nelson Boom Operator: Jerome R. Vitucci Additional Editor: Earl Ghaffari Assistant Editor: Ralph O. Sepulveda Jr. Assistant Editor: Ann Trulove Assistant Editor: Brion McIntosh Supervising Sound Editor: John Benson Sound Effects Editor: Beth Sterner Sound Effects Editor: Joseph A. Ippolito Sound Effects Editor: Frank Howard Dialogue Editor: Michael Magill Dialogue Editor: Simon Coke Dialogue Editor: Bob Newlan Supervising ADR Editor: Allen Hartz Foley Supervisor: Pamela Bentkowski Assistant Sound Editor: Carolina Beroza Assistant Sound Editor: Thomas W. Small Foley Artist: Ken Dufva Foley Artist: David Lee Fein Foley Mixer: Greg Curda ADR Mixer: Bob Baron ADR Voice Casting: Barbara Harris Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Andy Nelson Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Steve Pederson Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Tom Perry Music Supervisor: Maureen Crowe Supervising Music Editor: Steve Mccroskey Set Designer: Lisette Thomas Set Designer: Gae S. Buckley Special Effects Makeup Artist: Thomas R. Burman Special Effects Makeup Artist: Bari Dreiband-Burman Makeup Artist: Courtney Carell Makeup Artist: Mel Berns Jr. Hairstylist: Kathrine Gordon Hairstylist: Barbara Lorenz Hairstylist: Carol Meikle Costume Supervisor: Pat Tonnema Costumer: Janet Sobel Costumer: Kimberly Guenther Durkin Location Manager: Ned R. Shapiro Assistant Location Manager: Serena Baker Second Second Assistant Director: John G. Scotti Property Master: Kirk Corwin Assistant Property Master: Peter A. Tullo Assistant Property Master: Jim Stubblefield Leadman: Robert Lucas Special Effects Coordinator: Tony Vandenecker Chief Lighting Technician: Jono Kouzouyan Production Office Coordinator: Lynne White Unit Publicist: Tony Angelotti Still Photographer: Suzanne Tenner Craft Service: Vartan Chakarian Transportation Coordinator: James Thornsberry Color Timer: David Bryden Negative Cutter: Theresa Repola Mohammed Title Designer: Dan Curry Second Unit Director of Photography: Robert M. Stevens Stunts: Tony Brubaker Stunt Double: Steve Kelso Movie Reviews: tmdb15435519: I wish I could dress the exact same every day and still be cool.

[mellowfestbanana]

UK: Last survivor of US slave ships discovered

UK: Last survivor of US slave ships discovered

Sally Smith was kidnapped from West Africa by slave traders and lived until 1937 in Alabama, staying for more than 70 years on the plantation where she had been enslaved// GETTY IMAGES The last known survivor of the transatlantic slave ships, brought to the US in 1860, has been identified by an academic at Newcastle University.

Sean Coughlan, BBC News family and education correspondent

[wahtdahel-blog]

Meet Redoshi: The Last Enslaved African To Survive Forced Migration to the U.S. On A Slave Ship

A researcher at Newcastle University in Great Britain has pieced together the history of a remarkable woman believed to be the last survivor of the trans-Atlantic slave trade ships that arrived in the U.S.

Redoshi, later known as Sally Smith, was kidnapped from a village in modern-day Benin, West Africa, and brought to the United States, where she lived and died on the Alabama plantation where she was enslaved, according to research by Dr. Hannah Durkin.

Using firsthand accounts from various sources and U.S. Census records, Durkin was able to retell Redoshi’s unique story, from the time she was forced aboard a slave ship at the tender age of 12 and later sold as a child bride, to the moment she set foot on the plantation she would call home for 70 years. She would survive the Civil War and the Great Depression before dying in 1937.

Durkin called it “shocking” that Redoshi’s story was so close to living memory.

“It was thought that this woman was lost to history,” she told The New York Times in an interview.

Durkin’s findings were published in the journal Slavery & Abolition last week and chronicle Redoshi’s life and struggles. She is believed to have been taken from a West African village before being shipped to the United States aboard the Clotilda, the last recorded slave ship to arrive to the U.S. Durkin said Redoshi described her life as “peaceful” before she was seized by men of a neighboring tribe and brought to slave traders.

Famed Black author Zora Neale Hurston first discovered Redoshi during research for her novel “Barracoon: The Story of the Last ‘Black Cargo,‘ from which Durkin “wove together bits and pieces of Redoshi’s life that were found in Hurston’s unpublished writings and an interview she gave to The Montgomery Advertiser,” according to the Times. Durkin said some details of Redoshi’s life had also been documented in the 20th century when historians and civil rights activists started recording the experiences of enslaved Blacks.

Using census data and public records, Durkin learned that Redoshi had lived in Selma, Alabama, until her death at 89 or 90 years old. A man named Cudjo Lewis, who also arrived to the U.S. on the Clotilda, was long thought to be the last survivor of the slave trade, but Durkins’ research shows that Redoshi had lived much longer.

When she arrived to the U.S., she was bought by a local banker and given the name Sally Smith. Her master would later make her a child bride to an enslaved man.

“I was 12 years old and he was a man from another tribe who had a family in Africa,” Redoshi is quoted as saying to civil rights leader Amelia Boynton Robinson, who published a memoir. “I couldn’t understand his talk and he couldn’t understand me. They put us on block together and sold us for man and wife.”

Slavery was abolished five years after her arrival, and Redoshi became a free woman. Although she was emancipated, she chose to remain on the plantation with the Smiths, which was a common practice among newly-freed slaves. From Boynton Robinson’s memoir, Durkin said she was able to deduce that Redoshi later owned land in Bogue Chitto, Alabama, where an estimated 6,000 acres of land were owned and operated by Black Americans.

Like most, Redoshi suffered a regime of beatings and whippings during her enslavement, but Durkin’s research also points to glimpses of her strength and resilience. For instance, she managed to maintain her African heritage and identity, and even passed some of native language down to her daughter.

“It’s only one voice but this gives us a semblance of a voice for those who were otherwise lost,” Durkin said.

[sciencespies]

Researcher Identifies the Last Known Survivor of the Transatlantic Slave Trade

https://sciencespies.com/history/researcher-identifies-the-last-known-survivor-of-the-transatlantic-slave-trade/

Researcher Identifies the Last Known Survivor of the Transatlantic Slave Trade

In July 1860, a ship called the Clotilda docked off the shore of Mobile, Atlanta, under the cover of darkness. The 110 men, women and children onboard, all kidnapped from West Africa, were distributed to slaveholders despite the fact that Congress had outlawed the international slave trade more than 50 years earlier.

The Clotilda was, in fact, the last documented ship to transport people from Africa to slavery in the United States. And now, reports Sean Coughlan for BBC News, a British historian has identified the ship’s last known survivor.

Hannah Durkin of Newcastle University used genealogical data and a single newspaper interview to piece together the story of Matilda McCrear, who died in 1940 at the age of 81 or 82—three years after the death of Redoshi, a woman whom the historian had previously identified as the last survivor of the transatlantic slave trade.

Describing her research in the journal Slavery & Abolition, Durkin notes that McCrear does not seem to have appeared in any film footage; nor was she mentioned in any books. No obituaries mark her death. Instead, Durkin relied largely on an interview that appeared in the Selma Times-Journal after McCrear tried to claim compensation as a Clotilda survivor in 1931. The article, which Durkin discovered while researching Redoshi, is problematic; as Durkin notes, it was written by a white woman who “reveals a dismissive attitude to McCrear that elides much of her family’s suffering.” But the piece nevertheless offers key insight into McCrear’s often-heartbreaking biography.

She belonged to the Yoruba people of West Africa and was just 2 years old when she was captured by traders and brought on board the Clotilda along with her mother, Gracie; sister Sallie; and two other unnamed sisters. Two of her brothers were left behind in Africa, providing “rare insight into the Middle Passage as a site of maternal loss,” according to Durkin.

Upon their arrival in the United States, McCrear, Sallie and Gracie were purchased by slaveholder Memorable Walker Creagh; her two other sisters were sold to a different owner, per Newcastle University, and McCrear never saw them again. Gracie was sold to Creagh as the “wife” of a Clotilda survivor named Guy, though it is likely that their association “was random and part of a wider practice of selling off Clotilda survivors as ‘breeding pairs,’” writes Durkin.

Redoshi seen in “The Negro Farmer: Extension Work for Better Farming and Better Living”

(Department of Agriculture / National Archives)

Because McCrear was so young during the journey from Africa to America, most of her knowledge of that time period was passed down from her mother. But she had a distinct memory of fleeing into a swamp with her sister to escape her captors and hiding for several hours until the overseers’ dogs sniffed the girls out. McCrear would have been 3 years old at the time, her sister 11. That they went “to such lengths to escape captivity,” according to Durkin, “brings to light the miserable treatment that they endured even as young children and shows how profound was their sense of dislocation and desperation to return home.”

McCrear was still a young child when the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery, was adopted in 1865, but her family continued to work as sharecroppers, likely of cotton, for a landowner. As McCrear grew older, she displayed a determined, even defiant streak. She changed her last name from that of her former owner—Creagh—to McCrear; wore her hair in a traditional Yoruba style; and, though she never married, had a decades-long relationship with a white German man. Together, they had 14 children.

“McCrear’s long-term relationship with Schuler should be read as a major act of resistance to racist laws forbidding black and white people from marrying that were in place throughout the South until the U.S. Supreme Court declared them unconstitutional in … 1967,” writes Durkin.

When she was in her 70s, McCrear traveled 15 miles from her rural cabin to the County Courthouse in Selma, Alabama, hoping to obtain financial assistance as a Clotilda survivor. She knew that Cudjo “Kossola” Lewis, another survivor of the ship, had received compensation, and asked that both she and Redoshi be granted similar benefits. Her plea, however, was dismissed, and she ultimately died in poverty.

Johnny Crear, McCrear’s 83-year-old grandson, tells Newcastle University that he was completely unaware that his grandmother had been on the Clotilda prior to Durkin’s research.

“Her story gives me mixed emotions because if she hadn’t been brought here, I wouldn’t be here,” he says. “But it’s hard to read about what she experienced.”

Researchers discovered the remains of the Clotilda along the Mobile River last year. As Allison Keyes reported for Smithsonian magazine in April 2019, the ship’s captain, William Foster, had ordered it taken upstream, burned and sunk to conceal evidence of his crew’s illicit actions. Though the Clotilda’s survivors were freed by Union soldiers in 1865, they were unable to raise enough funds to return to Africa. Instead, the men and women pooled their wages and purchased a plot of land nearby. Dubbed Africatown, the society was rooted in its residents’ “beloved homeland,” according to Smithsonian.

“I knew what that ship represents, the story and the pain of the descendant community. I’ve heard the voices; I can look them in the eye and see the pain of the whole Africatown experience over the past hundred plus years,” Kamau Sadiki, a diver involved with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture’s Slave Wrecks Project, told Smithsonian last year. “They have been very resilient. The Clotilda should be known by everyone who calls themselves an American because it is so pivotal to the American story.”

#History

[myfunkybdaytv]

Last known slave trade survivor was a Nigerian of the Yoruba tribe

Last known slave trade survivor was a Nigerian of the Yoruba tribe

(more…)

[therebelwrites]

“It has long been believed that a man named Cudjo Lewis was the last living survivor of the trans-Atlantic slave trade in the United States. Now a researcher at Newcastle University in Britain says she has discovered testimony from someone who may have lived even longer — a woman named Redoshi.

“The new findings, published last week in the journal Slavery & Abolition, are likely to be subject to scholarly debate, because there are few records documenting the lives of the last Africans to be captured and brought to the United States on slave ships.

“Regardless of Redoshi’s precise historical status, the researcher, Hannah Durkin, has pieced together accounts from different sources and census records to carve out the remarkable life of a woman who survived the treacherous Middle Passage voyage at age 12, was sold as a child bride, and lived through the Civil War and the Great Depression. According to Dr. Durkin, Redoshi died in 1937; Lewis died in 1935.

“It was thought that this woman was lost to history,” Dr. Durkin, a lecturer at Newcastle University, said in an interview.

“But Redoshi was not lost. She is believed to have been taken from a West African village before being brought to the United States in 1860 on the Clotilda, the last recorded slave ship to arrive in the country after more than 240 years of slavery.”

[thecrownbaltimore]

White Wing Dove Live with Snake Charm is TONIGHT in the BLUE Room at 8pm featuring Allie, Abby and Liz of Gingerwitch, Rahne Alexander and Colleen Pelser of Santa Librada, Melody Easton of $100 Girlfriend, Erica Patoka and Dom Cerquetti, Cay Slaymaker, Christie McacDonald of Queen Wolf, Moira Horowitz, Sondra, Kevin, and Hannah of HexGirlfriends, Sarah Heiderman Doccolo, Joan Sullivan of The Selkies, Noelle Freitas, Jerz Durkin, Trevor Shipley, Christina Reitemeyer, Judy Kurgan-Frank, Morgan Fabulous, Erin Reid, Marissa O’Guinn, Dreambaby, and MORE TBA - $8👑 #whitewingdove (at The Crown) https://www.instagram.com/p/BzQUal3JaZP/?igshid=tmbc3l9vs83a

[scarletnews]

Africatown's 2021 "Spirit of Our Ancestors Festival"

Africatown’s 2021 “Spirit of Our Ancestors Festival”

Dr. Hannah Durkin’s research uncovered two African women — Sally Smith (African name “Rodishi”) and Matilda McCrear — who were also brought to America aboard the Clotilda, and who outlived Cudjo Lewis, long considered the slave ship’s last survivor after his death in 1935. “Redoshi and Matlida were incredible women. They were among the few women survivors of the transatlantic slave trade whose…

[therealpedrolee]

Shot4Shot (Online) presents The Shining April 10th Friday at 9:30 PM Zoom Email TheArmoryComedy@gmail.com to get on the online guest list! THE CAST Stage Directions/Drink Ref... Melissa Parker Caron Jack... Jenny Hill (special guest) Wendy... Joel Shaughnessy (special guest) Danny/Tony... Leah Evans Dick Halloran... Pedro Lee Ullman/Hermie... Hannah Erdheim (special guest) Lloyd the Bartender/Girls/Operator/Injured Guest... Andy Fitch Doctor/Bathtub Ghost/Dorothy/Stewardess... Nate Betancourt (special guest) Secretary/Susie/Blood Elevator/Girls/Durkin... Jack Rokicki Grady/Woman Announcer/Voiceover Radio... Ali Mierzejewski Ranger/Disc Jockey/Blowjob Bear... Marcus Haugen Watson/Grady Girl Twin./Glenn Rinkler... Sonia Nam Receptionist/Grady Girl Twin/Man Announcer/Maitre D ... Naomi Pitt (special guest) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-u0HOEJbhp/?igshid=hepsl6meakz2

[jorgeamarantet]

Descubren quién fue la última sobreviviente de los barcos de esclavos que llegaron a EEUU Redoshi logró sobrevivir, con 12 años, al duro viaje en un barco de esclavos desde África Occidental hasta Estados Unidos. Fue raptada y vendida por comerciantes de esclavos cuando apenas tenía 12 años, sobrevivió a la dura travesía en barco desde África y fue testigo de la guerra civil y la Gran Depresión en Estados Unidos. De nombre Redoshi, la última sobreviviente de los barcos de esclavos trasatlánticos acaba de ser identificada por una académica de la Universidad de Newcastle, Reino Unido. La mujer fue secuestrada en África Occidental en 1860 y vivió hasta 1937, año en que falleció en Alabama, EE.UU., en la misma plantación en la que fue esclavizada. La británica Hannah Durkin pudo reconstruir la vida de Redoshi gracias a testimonios de primera mano y registros del censo. Su investigación fue recientemente publicada en la revista Slavery and Abolition ("Esclavitud y Abolición"). (en San Francisco de Macorís) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bv16e43H7jx/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=18xqh5xygek5z

[yasbxxgie]

She Survived a Slave Ship, the Civil War and the Depression. Her Name Was Redoshi.

It has long been believed that a man named Cudjo Lewis was the last living survivor of the trans-Atlantic slave trade in the United States. Now a researcher at Newcastle University in Britain says she has discovered testimony from someone who may have lived even longer — a woman named Redoshi.

The new findings, published last week in the journal Slavery & Abolition, are likely to be subject to scholarly debate, because there are few records documenting the lives of the last Africans to be captured and brought to the United States on slave ships.

Regardless of Redoshi’s precise historical status, the researcher, Hannah Durkin, has pieced together accounts from different sources and census records to carve out the remarkable life of a woman who survived the treacherous Middle Passage voyage at age 12, was sold as a child bride, and lived through the Civil War and the Great Depression. According to Dr. Durkin, Redoshi died in 1937; Lewis died in 1935.

“It was thought that this woman was lost to history,” Dr. Durkin, a lecturer at Newcastle University, said in an interview.

But Redoshi was not lost. She is believed to have been taken from a West African village before being brought to the United States in 1860 on the Clotilda, the last recorded slave ship to arrive in the country after more than 240 years of slavery.

The rest of her life provides a stark example of the physical and psychological trauma left on those who survived the trans-Atlantic slave trade, scars that continue to inflame tensions in the United States today.

The author Zora Neale Hurston discovered Redoshi, who became known as Sally Smith after being enslaved, while doing research for her literary works in the South.

Dr. Durkin wove together bits and pieces of Redoshi’s life that were found in Hurston’s unpublished writings and an interview she gave to The Montgomery Advertiser as well as in “Bridge Across Jordan,” a memoir by the civil rights leader Amelia Boynton Robinson. Redoshi was also filmed for an instructional film released in 1938 by the Department of Agriculture called “The Negro Farmer: Extension Work for Better Farming and Better Living,” possibly making her the only female Clotilda survivor who appeared on film.

The film, which was meant to showcase issues facing formerly enslaved people as they tried to become farmers, shows Redoshi as an old woman on the porch of her small home, made out of wooden planks on a plantation in Alabama. As a narrator speaks, she can be seen talking to someone as she sits in a chair, wrapped by a quilt. Her white hair looks fuzzy, marked by stray braids poking out of it, and her skin is dark and thick but still vibrant. She has a gaptoothed smile, and cheekbones rising up to her eyes.

The footage is the only known video of a woman who survived slavery in the United States, Dr. Durkin said.

Dr. Durkin said she learned about Redoshi as she researched Hurston’s “Barracoon: The Story of the Last ‘Black Cargo,’” a nonfiction work centered on interviews with Cudjo Lewis. Dr. Durkin noticed a woman named Sally Smith in the appendix to a posthumously published manuscript by Hurston called “Every Tongue Got to Confess.”

Dr. Durkin says Redoshi was taken from her village in West Africa, where she described her life as “peaceful” before her father was killed by men who kidnapped her.

The interview Redoshi gave to The Montgomery Advertiser in 1932 indicated that she was from an area of West Africa that is now part of Benin, Dr. Durkin said. “I guess she is Yoruba.”

When she arrived in the United States, she was given the name Sally Smith after she was sold to a man named Washington Smith in Alabama, where she was made a child bride to an enslaved man.

“I was 12 years old and he was a man from another tribe who had a family in Africa,” Redoshi is quoted as saying to Mrs. Boynton Robinson. “I couldn’t understand his talk and he couldn’t understand me. They put us on block together and sold us for man and wife.”

This began Redoshi’s life as a slave on a plantation in Bogue Chitto, Ala. Five years after she arrived in the United States, she became a free woman with the ratification of the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery.

According to an article published in The Montgomery Advertiser, after Redoshi was freed she remained on the plantation with the Smiths, which was common for emancipated people.

“We stay on Smith place, where we know folks be good to us,’” she said in the 1932 interview. When Washington Smith died, she said, “we stay with Mistress Smith,” adding, “We love her and no want to leave.”

Dr. Durkin deduced from the memoir by Mrs. Boynton Robinson, who died in 2015, that while Redoshi stayed on the plantation for the remainder of her life, she later owned land in Bogue Chitto. According to Mrs. Boynton Robinson, around 6,000 acres in Bogue Chitto was owned and operated by black people. The land was inherited from formerly enslaved people who acquired it soon after slavery was abolished.

Redoshi’s life can provide a deeper understanding of the challenges and the narrow but previously unthinkable opportunities facing people as they emerged from slavery in the United States.

“We may still discover people who passed away after Redoshi,” said Sylviane A. Diouf, a visiting professor at Brown University’s Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice. “She may very well not be the last, which is of no importance whatsoever. What is crucial is the people’s stories.”

Correction: April 3, 2019

An earlier version of this article misstated where Zora Neale Hurston mentioned a woman named Sally Smith. It was in the appendix to a posthumously published manuscript, “Every Tongue Got to Confess,” not in a letter to Langston Hughes.

[h/t]

Photographs:

Redoshi, who was known as Sally Smith after she became enslaved, with her husband, called Uncle Billy or Yawith

Redoshi was filmed for an instructional film released in 1938 by the Department of Agriculture called “The Negro Farmer: Extension Work for Better Farming and Better Living”