Witness History
Witness History
The last survivor of the transatlantic slave trade
Up next
April 21, 2020
9 minutes
Available for over a year
The last surviving person to be captured in Africa in the 19th century and brought to United States on a slave ship, has been identified as a woman called Matilda McCrear, who died in Alabama in 1940. Sean Coughlan has spoken to the historian Hannah Durkin who uncovered Matilda's extraordinary life story and to Matilda's grandson, Johnny Crear.
Photo: Matilda McCrear in later years. Copyright: Johnny Crear.