POWERGRAMS

23 equipment, train the teens to operate it and ask the "right" questions as they interview their family members, Morrison said. An academic adviser will also be hired to launch the project and evaluate its progress. e videos will be shown at the Spirit of our Ancestors Festival, an annual celebration in Africatown to honor the 110 Clotilda survivors and forefathers of the community, and later posted on a CDA website that will be designed to showcase this oral history. e History Museum of Mobile will archive the videos at the new Africatown Heritage House, expected to open this winter. Finally, each family will receive a digitized copy of the video featuring the stories about their own ancestors. "e videos will help this history come to life," Morrison said. "If there is a face and a voice on video, people watching it will be able to see the descendants' expressions and passion as they talk about what life was like growing up in Africatown." e video project is already underway. Morrison has interviewed several descendants of Matilda McCrear, a previously unknown Clotilda survivor. It was only in the past few years that research has uncovered that McCrear and Sally Smith were among the "110." When they arrived in Mobile, McCrear and Smith were sold "up the river" and aer emancipation, lived in Dallas County. Both women lived longer than Cudjoe Lewis, who was once thought to be the last living survivor. "Very few people realize that in 1920, Matilda walked 17 miles to the courthouse to demand that her sons who served in World War I be given their veterans rights, and while she was in front of the judge, she asked for reparation as a former slave. She was denied on both counts, but she had the fortitude to do it," Morrison said. "ose are the kinds of rich stories that we cannot let get away." Frazier said the ultimate goal is to honor those intrepid survivors and ensure that their stories are shared with future generations. "e Clotilda story was one of resilience, determination and a love of family," she said. "ose people came from different parts of west Africa, but they bonded and became each other's family. Just knowing that gives me a pride that many African Americans don't have because at most, they may be able to trace their ancestors back to a plantation established in the 1700s or 1800s." Morrison said although the west Africans came from humble beginnings, their impact is still felt today. "ey came to Mobile in chains, and now their descendants are corporate executives, scientists, musicians, nurses and engineers," he said. "ey have become important parts of society and the community." By Carla Davis Burial landmark for Cudjoe Lewis, thought for decades to be the last survivor of the Clotilda. Elizabeth Sanders Fay and cousin John Crear, descendants of Clotilda survivor Matilda McCrear. Photo by Greg Morrison Photo by Greg Morrison

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