Tracing the Path of a Sunken Slave Ship, a Bitter Past, and a Rich Legacy
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Michael Cottman delivers a tale of the unique and mostly unknown true story of the discovery and exploration of the Henrietta Marie, a slave ship that wrecked off the coast of Florida at the turn of the 18th century, in his new book Shackles from the Deep.
Cottman retraces the ship’s route around the world: from England to West Africa, from the Henrietta Marie’s departing port in Senegal to the Jamaican plantation where the slaves it carried were sent to work. Cottman draws off his own experience as a diver and an African-American, sharing his own emotional journey of walking the steps of his ancestors and reliving the traumatic, treacherous and heartbreaking ordeal of these enslaved men, women – and children – who died on its final journey.
About the Author: Michael H. Cottman, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author, is a former political reporter for the Washington Post. Cottman has appeared on National Public Radio’s (NPR) “Tell Me More” with Michel Martin and also the Oprah Winfrey Show in 2000 to discuss his (adult) book The Wreck of the Henrietta Marie. Cottman also serves as a special consultant to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for a national multimedia project, “Voyage to Discovery,” an education initiative that focuses on the African-American contribution to the maritime industry spanning 300 years and efforts to teach students of color about careers in marine biology and oceanography.
SHACKLES FROM THE DEEP
By Michael Cottman
National Geographic Children’s Books
January 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-142-632663-9
Ages 10 and up
Hardcover
$17.99