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My Generation: We're still learning more about the heroic life of Harriet Tubman
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Sunday marked the 100th anniversary of the death of Harriet Tubman, a fearless conductor on the Underground Railroad. She is greatly admired for her bravery in guiding slaves to freedom and for her generous spirit. But for many years, her story was in danger of being forgotten.
When Harriet was a slave in Maryland, her owner hired her out at 7 years old to do housework. She later worked on a farm plowing fields and chopping wood. But she was determined to be free. One night, when she was 27, she escaped -- traveling north to Philadelphia, mostly by walking at night. During the day, she would sleep in the woods on a bed of pine needles.
Between 1850 and 1860, Harriet helped other slaves, including family and friends, escape north to freedom. She had to disguise her identity and take enormous risks, but she was never captured.
During the Civil War, Harriet joined the Union Army in South Carolina and worked as a scout, nurse and spy. She once baked 50 pies in a day to feed the soldiers.
When the war ended, she rented rooms to boarders to raise money for things she cared about, including building schools for black children and a home and hospital for old people.
Historians recently have paid more attention to Harriet Tubman and brought to light new evidence about her life. They discovered that Harriet led between 70 and 80 enslaved people to freedom. Harriet made between 10 and 13 rescue missions, not the 19 that some have thought.
Like many slaves, Harriet knew very little about her birth. She assumed she was born in Bucktown, but she didn't know her birthday; if she had to guess, she would have said she was born in 1825. Historians have solved that mystery: They found a record of a $2 payment made in 1822 to a midwife who was present at Harriet's birth. She was not born in Bucktown but 10 miles away in Harrisville, Md.
First Published March 11, 2013 12:00 am
