Amistad - Freedom Schooner
Built at the Henry B. duPont Preservation Shipyard at Mystic Seaport
Since her launch on March 25, 2000, Amistad's crew has worked with international agencies and organizations in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Europe, and West Africa in the recognition and commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade in the former British Empire (1807) and the United States (1808).
Amistad has been visited by thousands of school children and has conducted more than 50 public ceremonies and sailing events that have raised the awareness of the history of Atlantic Slave Trade and the stories of resistance waged by black and white abolitionists.
Amistad is currently docked at Mystic Seaport but is not open to visitors.
Caribbean Freedom Tour, 2010
March 25, 2010 marked the 10th anniversary of Amistad's launching at Mystic Seaport. On this day, the freedom scooner sailed to Cuba as part of her 2010 Caribbean Freedom Tour which included visiting a number of island nations with histories connected to the Africa Diaspora.
To read about the sights and sounds of this historic sail, click here for highlights from Mystic Seaport staff traveling with Amistad in Cuba.
Atlantic Freedom Tour, 2007-2008
Throughout her Atlantic Freedom Tour, Amistad worked with museums and educational outreach programs to tell the history of the trade and to highlight the significant way the legacy of that history reflects in today's social, political, and cultural character. The voyage included a special two-month stay in Freetown, Sierra Leone, the original West African homeland of many of the Amistad captives. This symbolic "homecoming" was a profound experience as the crew, students, church organizations, non-governmental organizations, and the governments of Britain, the United States, and the United Nations worked together in a show of cooperation and the celebration of peace and reconciliation after the Sierra Leone civil war.
Additional Resources
Amistad America, Inc.
Amistad America, Inc. built a recreation of the freedom schooner Amistad at Mystic Seaport. Keel laying was on March 8, 1998, the nearest weekend day to March 9, the date the Supreme Court handed down its decision in favor of the Amistad Africans.
The Amistad Friendship Quilt Project
The Amistad Friendship Quilt Project is a community effort to provide imaginative quilts for the bunks of the schooner Amistad. Quilt blocks were created and contributed by individuals from around the world, then assembled and donated to the ship. This effort, promoted by Montgomery College in Maryland, Amistad America, and Mystic Seaport, reflects a primary goal of the Amistad project: to unite people of diverse cultural backgrounds in the achievement of a common goal.
Amistad -- The Film
Mystic Seaport provided research and served as a location for four days of shooting during production. The Museum's waterfront represented New Haven Harbor of 1839 and figures prominently in the film.