Smithsonian museum to remove slave ship artifact from exhibit March 22

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The National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington said it will remove a prominent artifact from its “Slavery and Freedom” exhibit later this month, returning a timber remnant from the slave ship São José-Paquete de Africa to a museum in South Africa. The museum said March 22 will be the last day visitors can see the 33-pound (15-kilogram) timber piece on display in the gallery section focused on the Middle Passage.

Museum officials said the item will be prepared for transport back to its home in South Africa, and that the return will require a special crate because of the remnant’s delicate nature. The museum said the ship remnant will be among several items sent back to Iziko Museums of South Africa later this year.

The timber piece has been displayed in the exhibit since the museum opened in 2016 as part of a loan agreement, with the arrangement originally set for five years and later extended another five years. The museum said the loan agreement ended July 1, and it is now preparing the artifact for departure while keeping the broader “Slavery and Freedom” narrative in place.

According to the museum, other items connected to the São José—such as ballast pieces that served as counterweights for the human cargo—will remain on display. The museum said those remaining objects will be returned to South Africa in two years, and that a cargo manifest from the ship will replace the timber piece in the gallery.

The São José remnant traces to the 1794 sinking of the Portuguese vessel, which was bound for Brazil with more than 400 captives from Mozambique, according to the Smithsonian. The museum said the ship struck a rock and sank in December 1794 off the coast of Cape Town, and that half of the people aboard died. The Smithsonian said survivors were later resold into slavery in the Western Cape, and it said the ship wreck was recovered in 2015.

The museum said the exhibit’s Middle Passage section has been designed to confront the conditions of the trans-Atlantic journey, including where many captives died, though it said there is no exact count. The Smithsonian said it has presented the timber remnant in the exhibit’s lowest public level as part of the larger look at the slave trade, including artifacts such as shackles and objects connected to the ships.

The timing of the exhibit change has also coincided with broader scrutiny of history displays in federal museums and public spaces. The AP reported that the changes come as President Donald Trump’s administration has pursued an executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” which the order says includes reviews of Smithsonian museums, including the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Michelle Commander, the museum’s deputy director, told the AP that the exhibit change is tied to the loan agreement but that she understood the timing might raise questions. “That’s why we’re being transparent in this moment, because we are aware that there are those kinds of questions,” Commander said. “But, as we’ve said, this is really about the conservation needs of that item.”

Commander said the museum understands that South Africa’s cultural patrimony law governs how artifacts and historical materials are treated and how long they can be loaned out. Paul Gardullo, the museum’s assistant director of history, said the wooden materials are more fragile and need closer care, describing the handling requirements for such objects.

Recent visitors said the exhibit’s design—featuring the timber piece alongside ballast elements in a darkened gallery—left a strong impression. Krystina Hernandez described the experience as moving from textbook history into something more tangible, and Anehtra Reynolds said the presentation gave her a “piece of what they felt in terms of their misery” as she exited the gallery. “I think there was a sign in there that mentioned there were some slaves who starved themselves to death in hopes that they would, when they died, they would be returned to their land,” Reynolds said.

Jim Carnes, visiting Washington from Birmingham, Alabama, said the “artifacts are extraordinarily powerful” and described feeling sadness and anger after learning more about the exhibit’s subject matter. “The artifacts are extraordinarily powerful,” he said, adding that he was also disturbed by what he described as a federal push to “deny this ever happened.” Jorge Carvajal said the exhibit helped counter stereotypes, and he described his takeaway as empathy, saying the display would help people empathize “a lot more.”

Commander said the museum staff will work to ensure the exhibit continues to have the same impact using the remaining ship objects and displays. “The story does not leave the museum because this timber is going to be returned to its owners,” she said.