Redoshi facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Redoshi
Redoshi in The Negro Farmer (1938)
Born	c. 1848 Benin
Died	1937 (aged c. 89) Alabama, U.S.
Other names	Sally Smith
Known for	One of last surviving victims of the transatlantic slave trade

Redoshi (born around 1848, died 1937) was a young girl from Benin, a country in West Africa. In 1860, when she was about 12 years old, she was kidnapped. She was then illegally brought to the U.S. state of Alabama.

For a long time, Redoshi was thought to be the last person alive who had been forced into the transatlantic slave trade. This was until another survivor, Matilda McCrear, was identified in 2020. Redoshi was captured during a war in her home country. She was sold and transported by ship to the United States. This was against U.S. law at the time. She was sold again and enslaved on a large farm owned by the Washington Smith family in Dallas County, Alabama. There, her owner gave her the new name Sally Smith.

Redoshi lived through slavery. She also experienced the difficult period of Jim Crow laws after the Reconstruction era. These laws enforced racial segregation and took away rights from Black people. She lived until the time of the Great Depression. Redoshi even met people who were part of the early civil rights movement. She is the only known female survivor of the transatlantic slave trade who was filmed and interviewed for a newspaper.

Redoshi's Early Life and Capture

Redoshi grew up in a village in West Africa. This area is now part of the country of Benin. Her original name, "Redoshi," is not a common name in West Africa. However, similar names appear in historical records.

Around 1860, when Redoshi was about 12, her village was attacked. People from the Dahomey kingdom raided her home. Her father, who might have been a village leader, was killed. Redoshi was taken captive during this attack.

The Illegal Journey to America

After her capture, Redoshi was sold. She was bought by the American captain of a ship called the Clotilda. This ship was the last known vessel to illegally bring enslaved African people to North America. The U.S. had made it illegal to import enslaved people more than 50 years earlier.

The Clotilda was sent by an Alabama businessman named Timothy Meaher. He wanted to buy enslaved people from Ouidah, a port city in what is now Benin. On the ship, Redoshi was forced to marry another captive. This man was also from West Africa, but he spoke a different language. He was later known as "Uncle Billy" or "Yawith."

Life in Slavery in Alabama

After the Clotilda arrived in Mobile, Redoshi and Yawith were sold. They were bought by Washington Smith. He was a wealthy farmer in Dallas County, Alabama. His large farm was near Bogue Chitto. Smith also owned a house in Selma.

Smith renamed her "Sally Smith." He made her work in the fields. Sometimes, she also worked inside his large house. It is believed that two of the Dahomey people who had kidnapped Redoshi were also brought on the same ship. They worked alongside Redoshi in the fields. She never forgave them for what they had done.

Life After Slavery

After slavery ended, Redoshi was about 17 years old. She and Yawith continued to live on the plantation. They worked as sharecroppers. This meant they farmed the land and gave a share of their crops to the landowner. Washington Smith died in 1869, but his wife kept running the farm.

Sharecroppers often faced poverty. The landowners controlled their money and often kept them in debt. Despite this, Redoshi and Yawith survived. They might have even owned some land near Bogue Chitto. They had a daughter together and raised her. Redoshi became a Christian, but she also kept her African religious traditions. She taught these traditions to her daughter. Yawith passed away sometime between 1910 and 1920. Redoshi died in 1937. Her daughter had several children of her own.

How We Know Redoshi's Story

For many years, people thought Cudjoe Lewis was the last survivor of the transatlantic slave trade. He was interviewed by many people, including writer Zora Neale Hurston. However, a scholar named Hannah Durkin later found out about Redoshi's life. Durkin gathered information from different sources to piece together Redoshi's story.

Sources of Information

There are not many records about Redoshi. The information comes from:

• Notes and a letter written by Zora Neale Hurston.
• A newspaper interview from 1932 in Montgomery, Alabama.
• A short appearance in a government film from 1938.
• A brief mention in the memoir of a civil rights activist.
• Records like the U.S. Census.

These sources are sometimes incomplete or have small differences. This shows how hard it is to fully understand the experiences of people who survived transatlantic slavery.

Zora Neale Hurston's Connection

In 1928, Zora Neale Hurston wrote to her friend Langston Hughes. She mentioned meeting a "most delightful" woman in Alabama. This woman was "older than Cudjoe" and lived about 200 miles away. Hurston did not write much more about Redoshi in her main books. However, she included "Sally Smith" and some details about her life in an appendix of one of her manuscripts.

Newspaper Interview

In 1932, Redoshi, known as "Aunt Sally Smith," was interviewed by the Montgomery Advertiser newspaper. She was living on a farm owned by the Quarles family. The article said she was 25 when captured and was a "princess" from the Tarkars tribe. It also said she came from the same village as Cudjo Lewis. This is believed to be the only newspaper article focused on a female survivor of the Middle Passage.

Filmed for a Government Movie

Redoshi was filmed for an educational movie in 1938. The movie was called The Negro Farmer: Extension Work for Better Farming and Better Living. It was made by the United States Department of Agriculture. Redoshi appeared briefly in the film but did not speak. She is the only woman from the transatlantic slave trade known to have been filmed. The film showed the difficult lives of Black farmers in the South. It was meant to encourage them to stay on farms.

Civil Rights Activist's Account

Amelia Boynton Robinson, a civil rights activist, met "Aunt Sally" around 1936. Robinson wrote in her 1979 memoir that Smith had come from Africa. They talked about how Redoshi kept African cultural traditions alive in her family. This account helped historians learn more about Redoshi's life.

See also

• List of last survivors of American slavery