Project 110

In an effort to honor the 110 enslaved Africans who were illicitly brought to the United States on the schooner Clotilda in 1860, a team of professors are embarking on a historical documentary film that will attempt to capture the essence of those people through a recounting of their experiences before, during and after enslavement. The oral history of their descendants, interviews with historians, and a visual examination of historical documents and concurrent city, state and national events will serve as the foundation of the documentary. A more focused perspective on the historical accounts of the life of Cudjo Lewis will help the audience connect more personally with the journey of the Africans on the ship, their enslavement in Alabama, and the subsequent establishment of Africatown, one of the only known settlements of exclusively native Africans in the United States.

This project will produce a feature length (50-80 minute) film, initiate a community-based art exhibit production including a collection of poems, create a useful curriculum of visual-based educational clips with study prompts, and will culminate in a series of exhibitions of the film with the community art project in locations around Alabama.

Project 110 is a Mobile in Black and White Production

This project has received funding from the Alabama Humanities Foundation (AHF) and Mobile County Commissioner Merceria Ludgood.

However, your generous support will allow us to complete the production phase of the project, to complete our documentary on this painful and important chapter in our State’s history.

You can donate to Project 110 here.

The film production team is comprised of Ryan Noble, Assistant Professor at Spring Hill College, Dr. Joél Lewis Billingsley, Associate Professor at the University of South Alabama, and Dr. Robert Gray, Associate Professor at the University of Bergen, and the team will produce a documentary featuring the oral history of their descendants, interviews with historians, and a visual examination of historical documents.

Ryan Noble is an Assistant Professor of Visual and Performing Arts at Spring Hill College, where he teaches filmmaking and video production.

Joél Lewis Billingsley is an Associate Professor of Instructional Design at the University of South Alabama.

Robert Gray is an Associate Professor of University Pedagogy at the University of Bergen.