Matilda McCrear: Last survivor of slaves taken from Africa gets discovered

- The very last survivor of the transatlantic slave trade has been finally identified

- For a long time, it was believed that Redoshi Smith who died in 1937 was the last of all the survivors

- In a latest research work, it has been discovered that the last survivor was actually Matilda McCrear was still alive after 1937

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The last survivor of the transatlantic slave trade has been finally identified in the person of Matilda McCrear, years after the belief that the last person was Redoshi Smith.

According to the BBC, a researcher at the Newcastle University called Hannah Durkin, previously indicated that the last of the survivors was Redoshi Smith who was captured in Africa in the 19th Century and brought to the US.

But further works have revealed she was not the last to die.

Redoshi Smith died in 1937 and Hannah Durkin has now found out that a woman named Matilda McCrear who was also enslaved had lived until three years after 1937.

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Hannah Durkin, at Newcastle University, had previously identified the last surviving slave captured in Africa in the 19th Century and brought to the United States as a woman called Redoshi Smith, who died in 1937.

Matilda died in Selma, Alabama, in January 1940, at the age 83 - and her rebellious life story was the last living link with slaves abducted from Africa.

It is reported that Matilda had been captured by slave traders in West Africa at the age of two, arriving in Alabama in 1860 onboard one of the last transatlantic slave ships.

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With her mother Grace and sister Sallie, Matilda had been bought by a wealthy plantation owner called Memorable Creagh.

Upon arriving in the United States, her two daughters were snatched from her and sold to another owner after which they would never be seen again.

In another report, an institution in the United States, Princeton University, has chosen its first black valedictorian in the school 274-year history for Princeton’s Class of 2020.

Nicholas Johnson who was named for the position is a Canadian student who studied in Operations Research and Financial Engineering, CNN reports.

Speaking with CNN, he said that being considered for the position holds great importance for him, considering how the school is connected with the institution of slavery.

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Source: YEN.com.gh