Remembering Matilda: The Last Survivor of the Transatlantic Slave Trade
2025-01-16
This article recounts the life of Matilda McCrear, the last known survivor of the Clotilda, the final ship to transport enslaved Africans to America. Kidnapped from West Africa in 1859, Matilda endured the horrors of slavery and the injustices of Reconstruction. Despite her unsuccessful legal claim for compensation, her story powerfully illuminates the brutality of this dark chapter in history and the enduring struggle for racial equality.