WASHINGTON, DC.- Following the conclusion of a 10-year loan to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), wooden artifacts, including ship timber, from the São José slave shipwreck will return home to South Africa for long-term conservation and continued stewardship. Since the museum’s opening in 2016, the object has been on view in the “Slavery and Freedom” exhibition, thanks to a collaborative partnership and loan from the Iziko Museums of South Africa. Completing this loan is part of the museum’s broader collaboration with partners in South Africa, including the upcoming opening of the traveling exhibition “In Slavery’s Wake” at the Iziko South African National Gallery in May 2026.

“The millions of visitors who have learned more about the Middle Passage through this loan from Iziko Museums have benefited in immeasurable ways,” said Shanita Brackett, acting director of NMAAHC. “This transition reflects the museum’s commitment to ethical care, transparency and the enduring power of historical evidence.”

While the São José timber will no longer be on view starting March 23, its story remains central to the Middle Passage within the “Slavery and Freedom” exhibition, where ballast blocks, historical voices and documentary evidence continue to bear witness to the lived realities of transatlantic slavery. The timber’s return supports long-term conservation and continued study. Wood recovered from underwater sites is extremely fragile and requires specialized care to ensure it can be preserved for future generations. In place of the timber, the gallery will feature a graphic reproduction of the ship’s original manifest documenting the ship’s cargo, including ballast blocks, significant to the trade process. For more information about the museum’s collection and conservation efforts, visit the Collection Care website.

The São José

In 1794, the São José, a Portuguese slave ship, wrecked near the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. Destined for Brazil, the ship was carrying more than 500 enslaved individuals from Mozambique when it struck a rock and began to sink. The crew and some of those enslaved were able to make it safely to shore, but tragically, more than half of the enslaved people aboard died in the rough waters. Those Mozambican captives who survived were sold into slavery on the Western Cape. The wreck was identified and studied through the Slave Wrecks Project. This collaborative research effort led to one of the first archaeologically confirmed identifications of a slave ship associated with the transatlantic slave trade that was carrying enslaved people aboard.

The Slave Wrecks Project

The Slave Wrecks Project (SWP) is an international network of researchers and institutions hosted by the museum. Using maritime archaeology, historical research, and the study of sunken slave ships, the Slave Wrecks Project takes a distinct approach to the study of global African enslavement and the history of the African diaspora. Current global partners, in addition to local and regional partners in Africa, the Caribbean, and North and South America, include The George Washington University (co-convening partner), CAIRIM - Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Diving With a Purpose, Iziko Museums of South Africa, Instituto AfrOrigens, URICA - Université Cheikh Anta Diop and U.S. National Park Service–Submerged Resources Center.

“In Slavery’s Wake”

“In Slavery’s Wake: Making Black Freedom in the World” is a collaborative international exhibition that explores the history and legacies of slavery, colonialism and Black freedom-making. Featuring objects and stories from around the world, including items connected to the story of the São José, it combines historical scholarship from curators on four continents with contemporary art and oral histories from the “Unfinished Conversations” archive. The exhibition includes 190 objects, 250 images and 10 multimedia interactives and films. “In Slavery’s Wake” opens at the Iziko South African National Gallery in May 2026 before traveling to Dakar, Senegal, in 2027.