|
Home > About Harriet
Tubman
About Harriet Tubman
 |
(Library of Congress) |
Today, Harriet Tubman is widely known for her
work as a "conductor" on the Underground Railroad, a role
which has been described in legal documents, letters, newspapers,
magazines, biographies, and histories. To some extent, the prominence
of Tubman's underground railroad work has kept the public from seeing
her other accomplishments. She had a military career during the
Civil War as a scout, a spy, and a nurse, and received military
honors at her burial. She also created her own social service institution
by establishing a home for poor African Americans, known later as
Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged.
A brief word portrait by historian Benjamin Quarles
(The Negro in the Civil War, 1989, pg. 225) brings to life Harriet
Tubman in one of her many roles: "As a scout, Mrs. Tubman's deceptive
appearance was a great asset. Who would have thought that this short,
gnarled black woman with a bandanna wrapped around her head was
engaged in such a bold venture as entering Rebel-held territory
for the purposes of urging slaves to take to their heels, appraising
military and naval defenses, and taking in with a knowing eye the
location and quantity of supplies, provisions and livestock? Rufus
Saxton, Brigadier General of Volunteers, recorded that she 'made
many a raid inside the enemy's lines, displaying remarkable courage,
zeal and fidelity'"
With that same zeal and courage Harriet Tubman
lived her entire life dedicated to freedom for all. Her bravery
and steadfastness sparked the imaginations of those who knew her
or came in contact with her. She formed friendships with abolitionists,
politicians, writers and intellectuals. She knew Frederick Douglass
and was close to John Brown and William Henry Seward. She was particularly
close with suffragists Lucretia Coffin Mott, Martha Coffin Wright,
and Susan B. Anthony. Intellectuals in New England's progressive
circles, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, William Lloyd Garrison, Bronson
Alcott, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Franklin B. Sanborn, and Mrs. Horace
Mann, befriended her, and her work was heralded beyond the United
States. Despite her lifelong illiteracy, Harriet Tubman was a most
effective participant in the world around her; she was brave, determined,
tenacious, and generous. As a woman whose legacy as a humanitarian
who devoted her life to selflessly helping others, she would be
considered a most remarkable heroine in any generation.
Learn more about Harriet Tubman:
|
