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Project Update


Tubman archaeological dig
Study team at archeological site on
Brodess Farm, Dorchester County,
Maryland; work done by Washington
College Field School (National
Park Service).

March 2006: Progress Report (245 kb .pdf)

December 2005

After a long period of inactivity on this special resource study, the team resumed work on the Tubman statement of historical significance and concepts for different types of management. In addition, several important internal reviews were accomplished within the National Park Service. In March, the team expects to present for public review three ideas for management in outline form. By summer 2006, a draft study will be issued and the public will be asked formally to make comments on it.

February 2004

With three new biographies of Harriet Tubman fresh from publishers, the team is reviewing them for new insight into Tubman’s place in history and her long and varied career. The National Park Service cosponsored a discussion of these biographies as well as new artistic approaches to interpreting Tubman on March 21, 2004 in New York City. See Calendar.

The Tubman study held six public meetings in Spring 2003 and received valuable feedback from those who attended and people who sent in written comments.

November 2002

Before the study team was formed, the NPS in 2001 did a preliminary historical evaluation of Tubman and the sites associated with her. Building on that work, the team began its work in spring 2002 with site visits to the primary locations named in the Harriet Tubman Study law - Dorchester County, Maryland, and Auburn, New York.

The team, consisting of planners, historians, landscape architects, an architect, and an ethnographer, is far flung geographically: located in Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Atlanta, and Omaha. The project is based at the Northeast Region's Boston Support Office.

Assisting the team are NPS advisers in relevant fields who can be called on for their specialized expertise. Beyond the Park Service, several private consultants are engaged to help with graphic design of publications and evaluation of cultural landscapes associated with Tubman.

In addition, independent studies are taking place to learn more about the structures and archeology at the Home of Harriet Tubman in Auburn and the archeology at the site of her childhood home, which may also be her birthplace in Dorchester County, Maryland.

In fall 2002, the team began evaluating the significance of Harriet Tubman's sites. To achieve an accurate and full picture of Tubman's life and work, we draw on the expertise of both academic scholars and knowledgeable, skilled amateur historians.

An ongoing activity is the search for relevant places where Tubman worked. We need to ascertain what resources remain at these sites and to identify verifiable ties to Tubman. We welcome the information from experts in the field who have been preserving these resources and researching her life.


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