HARRIET ROSS TUBMAN WAS A RUNAWAY SLAVE WHO HELPED
OTHERS ESCAPE TO THE NORTH BEFORE SLAVERY WAS ABOLISHED
IN 1865.
HARRIET TUBMAN WAS ONE OF ELEVEN CHILDREN BORN TO TWO
SLAVES, HARRIET GREEN AND BENJAMIN ROSS IN DORCHESTER
COUNTY, MARYLAND IN 1820. IN 1844, SHE MARRIED ANOTHER
SLAVE, JOHN TUBMAN, WHO REMAINED ON THE PLANTATION WHEN
SHE ESCAPED NORTH TO PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA IN 1849.
FOR TEN YEARS, HARRIET TUBMAN MADE AT LEAST 19 ILLEGAL
TRIPS TO THE SOUTH AND LED MORE THAN THREE HUNDRED
SLAVES TO FREEDOM IN THE NORTH.
WHEN SHE APPROACHED A SLAVE PLANTATION, SHE SOMETIMES
USED HER STRONG SINGING VOICE TO ALERT SLAVES THAT SHE
WAS NEARBY AND THAT THEY SHOULD REMAIN HIDDEN WHILE SHE
SCOUTED THEIR SURROUNDINGS. DESPITE HUGE REWARDS
OFFERED BY WHITE PLANTATION OWNERS FOR HER CAPTURE, SHE
ALWAYS ESCAPED.
DURING THE CIVIL WAR (1861-1865), HARRIET TUBMAN JOINED
THE NORTHERN UNION FORCES IN BEAUFORT, SOUTH CAROLINA,
WHERE SHE WORKED AS A NURSE, COOK, UNION SPY AND SCOUT.
HARRIET TUBMAN HAD A STRONG RELIGIOUS FAITH AND OFTEN
MEMORIZED PASSAGES FROM THE BIBLE. SHE WAS OFTEN
CALLED "MOSES," A REFERENCE TO THE BIBLICAL MOSES WHO
LED THE JEWS OUT OF SLAVERY IN EGYPT.
AFTER THE CIVIL WAR ENDED IN 1865, SHE SPENT HER TIME
RAISING MONEY FOR SCHOOLS FOR FORMER SLAVES, COLLECTING
CLOTHES FOR DESTITUTE CHILDREN, AND GIVING ASSISTANCE TO
THE SICK AND DISABLED.
IN 1913, HARRIET TUBMAN DIED IN AUBURN, NEW YORK.
WILLIAM STILL, WHO WORKED WITH HARRIET
TUBMAN FOR MANY YEARS, SAID: "A MORE ORDINARY SPECIMEN
OF HUMANITY COULD HARDLY BE FOUND AMONG MOST UNFORTUNATE
LOOKING FARM HANDS OF THE SOUTH. YET IN POINT OF
SHREWDNESS AND DISINTERESTED EXERTIONS TO RESCUE HER
FELLOW-MEN, SHE WAS WITHOUT EQUAL... HER LIKE IT IS
PROBABLE WAS NEVER KNOWN BEFORE OR SINCE."
10-Feb-97
Source: Voice of America