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Home > The Special
Resource Study
The Special Resource Study
The Harriet Tubman Special Resource Study is exploring
the question of whether the National
Park Service should be involved with recognizing and honoring
Harriet Tubman and preserving sites associated with her. As part
of the study, we will determine whether resources (buildings and
places) might meet criteria for a unit of the park system and will
make recommendations to Congress regarding these findings. In addition,
we will examine whether such resources would be appropriate to comprise
a national heritage area.
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| Brick residence of Tubman, Auburn, New York (National Park
Service) |
In the mid 1990s the National Park Service did
a study of Underground Railroad sites which concluded that 13 places,
including two associated with Harriet Tubman, warranted a closer
look to determine if they might be included in the national park
system. They were the Tubman home in Auburn, New York, and what
was assumed to be her birthplace in Dorchester County, Maryland.
Congress in November 2000 passed a law mandating
this special resource study. The law names five Tubman sites in
Auburn, New York, and two in Dorchester County, Maryland, for investigation.
Dorchester County is where Tubman was born and grew up, and Auburn
is where she made her home for more than 40 years until her death
in 1913. In addition, the law directs the National Park Service
to analyze the suitability and feasibility for a national
heritage corridor (area) including the named sites and other
sites associated with Harriet Tubman.
Harriet Tubman is widely known for her role in
the Underground Railroad, but less well known for being a Union
scout, spy, and nurse. Likewise Tubman is better known as an American
icon than as a fully described and understood historical person.
Only in the past few years have scholars begun to produce a more
detailed and accurate historical picture of Tubman and her career,
and within one or two years, several new biographies will be published.
This special resource study, like others, will rely on existing
information rather than undertaking its own original research.
Learn more about the study:
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