For Immediate Release: December 9, 1997
Contact: Tricia Wood (Mystic Seaport)
phone: 860.572.5317
fax: 860.572.5326
email: tricia@mysticseaport.org
“Voyage to Freedom”
Chronicles Amistad Incident
New Mystic Seaport Exhibit Opens as Spielberg’s Movie Makes Its Debut
MYSTIC, CT --“Voyage to Freedom,” a new exhibit chronicling the plight of the Amistad
Africans and the legacy of their enduring story, opened at Mystic Seaport on Friday,
December 12. The premiere of this multi-faceted exploration coincided with the premiere
of Steven Spielberg’s historical film “Amistad,” which opened at theaters nationwide
on the same day.
A seven minute video depicting the Amistad incident orients visitors as they
enter “Voyage to Freedom.” The exhibit then journeys to the Amistad Africans’
homeland of Mendi, which encompasses present-day Sierra Leone, and examines their
capture, horrific middle passage and revolt aboard the schooner Amistad. As
visitors wind around “Voyage to Freedom,” they trace the legal plight of the Africans
in the United States and learn the differing points of view of the abolitionists,
judges and politicians who shaped the case. The final section of the exhibit examines
slavery in the United States and the legacy of the Africans who were aboard
Amistad.
“Voyage to Freedom” features original legal documents relating to the Amistad
incident as well as nautical charts, ship models and Mendi artifacts. Props
and images from Spielberg’s “Amistad” will also be presented. Among the notable displays
in “Voyage to Freedom” is giant blow up of a 19th-century Georgia banknote showing
slaves, cotton and a Yankee clipper ship. Contrary to the popular notion that erroneously
labels slavery a southern practice, the currency stands as testimony to slavery as
an American institution supported in the South and the North. “Voyage to
Freedom” also includes a simulation of the manner in which most Africans were transported
to the new world. Silhouettes chained together and crouched in between decks, a position
which Africans were forced to hold for months at a time, starkly depicts the conditions
of middle passage.
“Voyage to Freedom” chronicles another Mystic Seaport project, the building of the
freedom schooner Amistad which began March 8, 1997. When complete, the $2.8
million, 77-foot hand-hewn vessel will be an educational ambassador plying the nation’s
waterways teaching the lessons of history, cooperation and leadership to Americans
of all ages, interests and cultural backgrounds. The freedom schooner Amistad
is scheduled to set sail in 2000 and is made possible by a State of Connecticut
Department of Economic and Community Development bond and by the project’s lead corporate
sponsor, Phoenix Home Life Mutual Insurance Company based in Hartford, Connecticut.
The project is the vision of Amistad America, Inc., a not-for-profit organization
responsible for the fundraising and long-term care of the vessel.
Mystic Seaport - The Museum of America and the Sea - was founded in 1929 and is the
nation's leading maritime museum, housing the largest collection of boats and maritime
photography in the world. Renowned for its recreated 19th-century village area of
historic buildings and tall ships, Mystic Seaport also offers a preservation shipyard,
exhibit buildings, educational programs and research facilities. Other Mystic Seaport
Amistad-related activities include the “Exploring Amistad” website, <http://amistad.mysticseaport.org>,
and a CD-ROM which is being produced in collaboration with Cinegram Media. Mystic
Seaport was a location for Steven Spielberg’s “Amistad.”
“Voyage to Freedom” will be on display through spring 1998. Admission to Mystic Seaport
is $16 for adults and $8 for youth ages 6 to 12. Plan to spend the day -- it takes
several hours to see and do all Mystic Seaport has to offer.
Call 1-888-9SEAPORT or visit http://www.mysticseaport.org
for more information.
Mystic Seaport is located one mile south of I-95 in Mystic, Connecticut.
