MAYOR HARP TO WELCOME
FREEDOM SCHOONER AMISTAD HOME TO NEW HAVEN
(New Haven, CT /April 24, 2017) On Tuesday, April 25 at 12:30 p.m., Mayor Toni N. Harp, will join representatives from Discovering Amistad to welcome home the return and tour Connecticut’s flagship, the Freedom Schooner Amistad to Long Wharf Pier, 389 Long Wharf Drive, New Haven.
Tours will be open to the public as follows: Immediately following the ceremony on April 25 and then at 4 pm that day; and at 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. April 26 through April 30.
Discovering Amistad is a new, nonprofit educational organization that was formed at the recommendation of the State of Connecticut and which will provide full-year programming on its tall ship, the Amistad, in classrooms and at historic sites of partner organizations. It will enable children and adults in Connecticut and the region to discover the story of the Amistad and its impact on Connecticut and the nation. Importantly, the organization will provide learning opportunities for children and adults to discover the relevance of the Amistad to today’s world.
About the Amistad. In 1839, Mende captives from Sierra Leone took control of the ship, the Amistad. Unable to navigate back to Africa, the ship was captured and towed into the port of New London Harbor in Connecticut. The Mende were faced with slavery or execution, and their cause was taken up by many residents throughout Connecticut. U.S. Circuit and District courts ruled in favor of the Mende. This case was then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court and in 1841 this court agreed with the lower court decisions and the Mende captives were ordered freed. The role that Connecticut and its citizens played has been told and retold over the years, and in 1999 a new organization was formed and a replica of the Amistad ship was built in Mystic, Connecticut and launched in 2000. For more information on the ship visitwww.discoveringamistad.org.
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