A related series of lectures takes place at the museum in April.

Historians around the world have turned their attention to Mobile, Alabama, following the discovery of the Clotilda, America’s last slave ship, in the waters near the Port City – and the opening of an exhibit that tells the story of its captives and descendants.

But there’s much more to the centuries-long journey of the city’s Black community, and an ongoing exhibit at the University of South Alabama (USA) Archaeology Museum is shedding light on another facet of its history.

“Unwritten: Archaeology and Oral History of Jim Crow Mobile,” shines a light on the lives of three Black families who lived in different sections of the city during racial segregation but “who shared much in common,” said Jennifer Knutson, the museum’s assistant director.

She said the Lewis, Owens and Griffin families all owned homes in Mobile at a time when many African Americans did not. But in the mid-20^th century, development transformed their neighborhoods – destroying their homes and many others, along with schools and businesses.

And while their homes are gone, Knutson said through the exhibit, which combines oral histories and archaeology, “we can learn about their stories.”

The exhibit at the USA Archaeology Museum explores life in Jim Crow Mobile through the story of three Black families. (contributed)

The exhibit at the USA Archaeology Museum explores life in Jim Crow Mobile through the story of three Black families. (contributed)

Knutson said the exhibit is built on decades of past and current work by USA scholars.

USA Professor of Anthropology and Chief Calvin McGhee Professor of Native American Studies Philip Carr helped uncover the remains of the Owens home during excavations in the historic Down the Bay neighborhood before construction of the Interstate 10 river bridge. The USA McCall Archives Down the Bay Oral History Project continues to record stories of the community.

In the 1990s, USA archaeologists excavated the Griffin home before the Calloway-Smith Middle School construction near historic Davis Avenue.

Then, in 2010, experts from William & Mary college excavated the Africatown home site of Peter Lee and the Lewis family.

Artifacts from all three excavations were transferred to USA in 2021. Now, they can be seen by the public for the first time in the exhibit.

Knutson said the exhibit wouldn’t have been possible without the work of Kern Jackson, director of USA’s African American Studies Program. Jackson has spent decades documenting the stories of the Africatown community.

USA Professor of Anthropology Philip Carr; USA Director of African American Studies Kern Jackson; USA President Jo Bonner; and Jennifer Knutson, assistant director of the USA Archaeology Museum on opening night of the exhibit. (contributed)

In addition to the museum show, a traveling version is being created, as well as an online companion exhibit, with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The virtual and traveling exhibits are expected to be available later this spring.

Also, a series of lectures related to the exhibit will kick take place at the museum through April. Here is the schedule:

• April 2, 3:30 p.m. – “Archaeology & Oral History of Down The Bay” with speakers Philip Carr; Rachel Hines, USA Center for Archaeological Studies; and Ryan Morini, USA Marx Library, McCall Archives.
• April 3, 3:30 p.m. – “Where is the Parity: Exploring the Gap Between Health Disparities and Health Equities” with speaker Tiquera Hall, USA College of Medicine.
• April 9, 6 p.m. – “Documenting the Historic Plateau Africatown Cemetery” with Alexandra Jones, Archaeology in the Community.
• April 10, 3:30 p.m. – “Memory of the Civil Rights Movement in Mobile” with David Messenger, USA Department of History.
• April 30, 3:30 p.m. – “Black History Under Ground” with Tracy Neely, Alabama Cemetery Preservation Alliance.

The museum is located at 6050 USA South Drive in Mobile. Normal hours are Tuesday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free. To learn more about the museum and its exhibits and programs, click here.

Information for this article came from the University of South Alabama website.