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Into the Depths

Celebrate Juneteenth with Into the Depths

Into the Depths

National Geographic

Science, History

4.6 • 803 Ratings

🗓️ 15 June 2022

⏱️ 43 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In celebration of Juneteenth, we revisit the final episode of Into the Depths with National Geographic Explorer Tara Roberts. Tara is inspired by the stories of the Clotilda, a ship that illegally arrived in Mobile, Alabama, in 1860, and of Africatown, created by those on the vessel—a community that still exists today. The archaeologists and divers leading the search for the Clotilda lay out the steps it took to find it. As Tara talks to the living descendants of those aboard the ship, she admires their enormous pride in knowing their ancestry, and wonders if she can trace her own ancestors back to a ship. She hires a genealogist and visits her family’s small hometown in North Carolina, where she celebrates the nation’s first federal Juneteenth holiday. The spirit of community she finds at the celebration, as well as the surprising results she receives from the genealogist, bring Tara a sense of belonging to a place that she never could have imagined. Want more? Check out our Into the Depths hub to learn more about Tara’s journey following Black scuba divers, find previous Nat Geo coverage on the search for slave shipwrecks, and read the March cover story. And download a tool kit for hosting an Into the Depths listening party to spark conversation and journey deeper into the material. Also explore: Dive into more of National Geographic’s coverage of the Clotilda with articles looking at scientists’ ongoing archaeological work, the story that broke the discovery of the ship, and the documentary Clotilda: Last American Slave Ship. Meet more of the descendants of the Africans trafficked to the U.S. aboard the Clotilda, and find out what they’re doing to save Mobile’s Africatown community in the face of difficult economic and environmental challenges. Read the story of Kossola, who later received the name Cudjo Lewis, in the book Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo,” by author and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston. Learn more about the life of abolitionist Harriet Jacobs, author of “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl,” who escaped Edenton, N.C., through the Maritime Underground Railroad. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hey, I'm Carla Wills, executive editor of Into the Depths. Today we have something special for you in celebration of Juneteen, a look back at rooting, the final episode of the series.

0:14.9

In this episode, National Geographic Explorer Tara Roberts meets the living descendants of the Africans aboard the Clotilda,

0:22.9

the last known ship from the transatlantic slave trade to reach the United States. They inspired Tara

0:29.6

to look into her own family's past in Edenton, North Carolina, a trip she shares in this

0:35.4

final episode of the series.

0:45.3

While Tara was in Edenton, the town held its annual Juneteenth celebration, commemorating June 19, 1865,

0:50.9

the day that enslaved African Americans in Texas learned they were free.

0:56.1

That trip took place around this time last year, when we all learned that Juneteenth was now a new federal holiday. I hope you'll enjoy this episode of Intivadapes

1:02.5

in celebration of Juneteenth, and if you haven't already, we'll go back and listen to the

1:08.0

entire series. Now, on to the show.

1:26.3

Cute little cough. Yeah, it's really little.

1:29.3

I'm careful.

1:30.3

I think I'm all.

1:31.3

Get that child to do you nail.

1:33.3

Yeah, my totally.

1:34.3

You're not like that.

1:35.3

You don't call now, baby.

1:36.3

Mom, please don't call me to...

1:38.3

Oh, I need the keys to the house.

1:41.3

Yeah, Sunday evening.

1:43.3

All right, my dear. Let's get a good hug.

1:46.0

Mm.

...

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