The Freedom Schooner Amistad sails the world as a symbol of freedom, justice and human cooperation among all races and religions.  The message is founded on the telling of the Amistad Story where kidnapped Africans were set free by a pro-slavery U.S. Supreme Court because black and white abolitionists work tirelessly to win their freedom.

On June 21, 2008  exactly one year  to the day - Freedom Schooner Amistad will return to its homeport of New Haven having completed a 14,000 miles long circumnavigation of the Atlantic Ocean as part of an international commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade in the former British Empire (1807) and the United States (1808).

The voyage called the Atlantic Freedom Tour will officially continue this summer with a tour of ports along the U.S. East Coast and formal ceremonies in New York City and then a final ceremony in Washington, D.C.

Throughout the voyage, the Freedom Schooner Amistad and its crew and students aboard have worked with museums and educational outreach programs to tell the history of the Slave Trade and to highlight the significant way the legacy of that history reflects in today's social, political and cultural character.  The voyage included a special two-month stay in Freetown, Sierra Leone, the original West African homeland of many of the Amistad captives.

This symbolic “homecoming” was a profound experience as the crew, students, church organizations, non-governmental organizations and the governments of Britain, the United States and the United Nations worked together in a show of cooperation and the celebration of the Amistad's visit in the name of peace and reconciliation after Sierra Leone 10-year-long civil war.

Please join the Amistad crew, staff and students

on June 21st at 9:30 am at Long Wharf Pier

for a public ceremony welcoming the schooner home.