It is the only sunken slave ship in the United States to be scientifically documented. He traveled to three continents to reconstruct the slaving voyages of the Henrietta Marie and, as a certified scuba diver, helped explore the remains of the vessel which yielded 20,000 artifacts, including the largest collection of slave-ship shackles ever found on one site.

Cottman, an award-winning journalist and an author with National Geographic Books.Ĭottman also served as a Senior Correspondent for, a division of REACH Media/Urban One, the nation's largest black-owned media company, where he writes about race and politics, social justice, education, the shifting demographics in a multicultural society and the upcoming 2020 presidential election.Ĭottman previously covered the White House and provided commentary and political analysis about President Barack Obama, focusing primarily on how the Obama administration’s economic, education and health-care policies impacted African Americans and people of color.Ī former reporter for The Washington Post, Newsday, and The Miami Herald, Cottman has received numerous awards including journalism's highest honor, the Pulitzer Prize, which he shared with a staff of reporters and editors at Newsday in 1992 for Newsday’s coverage of a deadly subway crash in New York.Ĭottman is the author of seven books, including Million Man March, (Crown/Random House) the first book to chronicle the historic event, and The Wreck of the Henrietta Marie, (Crown/Random House) the story of a sunken 17th Century slave ship that sank off the coast of Florida in 1700 and Cottman’s underwater exploration of the 300-year-old vessel.Ĭottman, who appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2000 to discuss his book, The Wreck of the Henrietta Marie, spent four years researching the origin of the Henrietta Marie and retraced the route of the slave ship, traveling to every port of call and scuba diving inlets where the ship anchored. Cottman, who has received numerous awards, was also part of a reporting team that won journalism’s highest honor, the Pulitzer Prize, for Newsday’s coverage of a deadly subway crash in New York in 1992. He has appeared on National Public Radio’s Tell Me More, CNN, the History Channel, and The Oprah Winfrey Show to discuss his work. He is also the author of The Wreck of the Henrietta Marie and Million Man March. His past books include Shackles From the Deep, which traces the path of a sunken slave ship and earned a starred review from Booklist and was selected as a Notable Social Studies Trade Book by the Children’s Book Council in 2018. Cottman is an award-winning journalist, author, and former political reporter for The Washington Post.

Million Man March by Michael H. Cottman