Join us for a riveting evening as Kamau Sadiki from Diving With A Purpose explores the meaning of memory and cultural heritage in the context of the Transatlantic Era of African Enslavement by examining the wrecks of two critically important slave ships, São José Paquete de Africa and Clotilda, of the 18th and 19th centuries.

Join us as we shed light on these historical figures to learn about their contributions and unique roles in our maritime history.

Join us for a lecture with author and historian John V. Quarstein, director emeritus of the USS Monitor Center. Quarstein will give a presentation about the most successful slave revolt in US history.

Celebrate Black History Month with us at The Mariners’, and learn the history of Mali and why its influence from all aspects of life continues to resonate today in the 21st century!

Join us for a lecture with author and historian John V. Quarstein, director emeritus of the USS Monitor Center. Quarstein will give a presentation about four influential freedom fighters from  Virginia who fought to end the enslavement of people of African descent.

Dr. Natalie S. Robertson devoted 30 years of research, from Benin to Alabama, shares the story of Clotilda, the last American slave ship, and to tell the startling truth about the Clotilda smuggling crime.

Nilotic Peoples delves into the cultures, traditions, and practices of many of these tribal groups, and how they are viewed in our world today.

After asking the community to help us gather full names and personal stories to bring recognition to these men, our understanding of the richness of our local, national, and global communities expanded greatly.

What makes this river so important? Often associated with the ancient Egyptians, the Nile has provided and supported life throughout many countries in Africa. It is connected to several other major bodies of water, and has impacted the development of African cultures for thousands of years.

Stretching 1,800 miles down the eastern coast and with its indigenous African, Middle Eastern and Asian influences, the Swahili coast has been a place of historical, cultural, economic, and political interactions and exchanges for thousands of years.

From 1830 to 1860, the City of Norfolk was the center of maritime activities in Hampton Roads as the Port of Virginia. These waterways transported goods to points North and enslaved human beings to the Lower South to work on cotton plantations. Yet, these same waterways that condemned so many to hard labor, separating families and causing so much pain, were also used to secure freedom for thousands through a locally autonomous system that fed into a national underground railroad network.

From the individual hidden voices that are now being heard to the ancient kingdoms that populated the African continent, Black and African history is intertwined with incredible stories that illustrate both adversity and diversity.