Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman was born during 1820, in Dorchester County, Maryland. She was purely of African ancestry and born into slavery. She was raised under harsh conditions, and subjected to whippings even as a small child. At the age of 12 she was seriously injured by a blow to the head, inflicted by a white overseer for refusing to assist in tying up a man who had attempted escape. At about age 30 she was fearful that she would be sold south and made her escape.

She initially settled in Philadelphia, where she met William Still, the Philadelphia Stationmaster on the Underground Railroad. With the assistance of Still, and other members of the Philadelphia Anti-Slavery Society, she learned about the workings of the Underground Railroad. In 1851 she began relocating members of her family to St. Catharines, Canada West. North Street in St. Catharines remained her base of operations until 1857. While there she worked at various activities to save to finance her activities as a Conductor on the Underground Railroad.

After freeing herself from slavery, Harriet Tubman returned to Maryland to rescue other members of her family. She made 19 trips into the South and escorted over 300 slaves to freedom. In all of her journeys it is reported that she never lost a single passenger. The tales of her exploits reveal her highly spiritual nature and courageous being.

Tubman was closely associated with abolitionist John Brown, and was well acquainted with the other Upstate abolitionists, including Frederick Douglass, Jermain Loguen, and Gerrit Smith. She worked closely with Brown, and reportedly missed the raid on Harper's Ferry only because of illness. After the outbreak of the Civil War, Tubman served as a soldier, spy, and a nurse, for a time serving at Fortress Monroe. Denied payment for her wartime services, Tubman was forced, after a bruising fight, to ride in a baggage car on her return to Auburn.

Only twelve miles from Seneca Falls, Tubman helped Auburn to remain a center of activity in support of women's rights. With her home literally down the road, Tubman remained in contact with her friends, William and Frances Seward. In 1908, she built the wooden structure that served as her home for the aged and indigent. Here she worked, and herself was cared for in the period before her death in 1913.

After her death, Harriet Tubman was buried in Fort Hill Cemetery in Auburn, with military honors. She has since received many honors, including the naming of the Liberty Ship Harriet Tubman, christened in 1944 by Eleanor Roosevelt. In 1914 a large bronze plaque was placed at the Cayuga County Courthouse, and a civic holiday declared in her honor. Freedom Park, a tribute to the memory of Harriet Tubman, opened in the summer of 1994 at 17 North Street in Auburn. In 1995, the federal government honored her with a commemorative postage stamp bearing her name and likeness. Her life’s work of opposing prejudice, discrimination and oppression has touched the lives of many people. She was a remarkable woman who is great inspiration to all those working for a more just and humane social order.

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