|
Governor Martin O'Malley
Announces Funding For
Harriet Tubman Visitor
Center
CARDIN,
MIKULSKI
PRAISE
SENATE
COMMITTEE
PASSAGE OF
BILL TO
CREATE
HARRIET
TUBMAN
NATIONAL
HISTORICAL
PARKS
WASHINGTON
--
U.S.
Senators
Ben
Cardin
and
Barbara
A.
Mikulski
(both-
D-MD)
today
praised
Senate
committee
passage
of
legislation
to
create
two
national
historical
parks
to
honor
the
life
of
Harriet
Ross
Tubman,
the
most
famous
“conductor”
on
the
Underground
Railroad.
The
Senate
Energy
and
Natural
Resources
Committee
voted
to
report
the
bill
favorably
for
consideration
by
the
full
Senate.
Senator
Cardin
introduced
the
bill
earlier
this
year
along
with
Senators
Mikulski
and
Senators
Charles
Schumer
and
Kirsten
E.
Gillibrand
(both
D-NY).
The
Harriet
Tubman
National
Historical
Park
and
The
Harriet
Tubman
Underground
Railroad
National
Historical
Park
Act,
S.
247,
will
establish
two
National
Historic
Parks,
one
in
Maryland
and
one
in
New
York.
The
National
Historical
Park
in
Maryland
will
trace
Tubman’s
early
life
on
the
Eastern
Shore
of
Maryland,
where
she
was
born
and
later
escaped
from
slavery
to
become
one
of
the
leaders
on
the
Underground
Railroad.
The
National
Historical
Park
in
New
York
will
be
located
in
Auburn
and
commemorates
the
later
years
of
her
life
where
she
was
active
in
the
women’s
suffrage
movement
and
in
providing
for
the
welfare
of
aged
African
Americans.
“This
is a
great
day
for
those
who
want
to
honor
the
legacy
of
Harriet
Tubman,
a
true
American
heroine
and
patriot,
for
whom
liberty
and
freedom
were
not
just
ideas,
but
represented
a
real
struggle
for
human
rights,”
said
Senator
Cardin.
“She
lived
those
principles
and
shared
that
freedom
with
hundreds
of
others.
These
two
parks
will
make
it
possible
for
Marylanders,
New
Yorkers
and
all
Americans
to
visit
and
trace
her
life’s
work
and
remember
her
tremendous
contribution
to
our
nation’s
history.”
“Harriet
Tubman
was
a
courageous
fighter
who
delivered
hundreds
of
slaves
to
freedom
on
her
Underground
Railroad,”
Senator
Mikulski
said.
“She
was
tireless
in
her
commitment
to
fight
for
those
who
could
not
fight
themselves.
I am
proud
to
support
the
creation
of
these
parks
to
honor
her
memory.”
“This
is
another
important
step
down
the
road
to
honoring
Harriet
Tubman,
a
true
American
hero,
with
a
national
park
at
her
home
in
Auburn,”
said
Senator
Schumer.
“The
hardworking
men
and
women
who
have
been
keeping
up
the
Tubman
House
in
Auburn
deserve
to
see
their
work
come
to
fruition.
I
will
keep
pushing
to
make
the
Harriet
Tubman
house
the
national
park
that
will
be a
boost
for
the
regional
economy
and
a
magnet
for
tourists.”
“Harriet
Tubman
is a
remarkable
American
hero
who
continues
to
inspire
me
today,”
said
Senator
Gillibrand,
who
toured
Harriet
Tubman’s
home
and
the
Home
for
the
Aged
that
she
established
in
Auburn,
New
York
this
August.
“Her
unwavering
commitment
to
helping
others
while
risking
her
own
life
in
the
long
fight
for
equality
has
left
an
indelible
legacy.
This
national
park
in
Auburn
would
provide
an
important
place
where
men
and
women
of
all
backgrounds
can
come
together
and
reflect
on
the
significance
of
her
life.”
Harriet
Tubman
was
born
in
Dorchester
County,
Maryland,
where
she
spent
nearly
30
years
as a
slave.
She
escaped
slavery
in
1849,
but
returned
to
the
Eastern
Shore
several
times
over
the
course
of
10
years
to
lead
hundreds
of
African
Americans
to
freedom
in
the
North.
Known
as
“Moses”
by
African-American
and
white
abolitionists,
she
reportedly
never
lost
a
“passenger”
on
the
Underground
Railroad.
In
Maryland,
The
Harriet
Tubman
Underground
Railroad
National
Historical
Park
would
include
historically
important
landscapes
in
Dorchester,
Caroline
and
Talbot
counties
that
are
evocative
of
the
life
of
Harriet
Tubman.
In
Dorchester
County,
the
parcels
include
close
to
2,775
acres
located
within
the
established
master
plan
boundaries
of
the
Blackwater
National
Wildlife
Refuge,
but
are
not
currently
owned
by
the
U.S.
Fish
and
Wildlife
Service.
These
parcels
are
significant
sites
in
Harriet
Tubman’s
life,
including
her
likely
birthplace,
the
Brodess
Plantation
parcel
where
she
worked
as a
young
girl;
the
Cook
Plantation
parcel
where
as a
teenager
she
worked
as a
seamstress;
and
the
Jacob
Jackson
parcel,
which
is
believed
to
be
the
location
of
one
of
the
first
safe
houses
along
the
Underground
Railroad.
The
Harriet
Tubman
historic
area
also
would
include
about
2,200
acres
in
Caroline
County,
which
includes
portions
of
the
Poplar
Neck
plantation
where
Harriet
Tubman
escaped
slavery
in
1849.
The
725
acres
of
viewshed
across
the
Choptank
River
in
Talbot
County
would
also
be
included
in
the
Park.
These
parcels
are
authorized
to
come
under
protection
through
conservation
easements
held
by
the
private
property
owners.
In
New
York,
The
Harriet
Tubman
National
Historical
Park
would
include
important
historical
structures
in
Auburn,
New
York.
They
include
Tubman’s
home,
the
Home
for
the
Aged
that
she
established,
the
African
Methodist
Episcopal
(AME)
Zion
Church,
and
the
Fort
Hill
Cemetery
where
she
is
buried.
Press
Contact
Susan
Sullam
(Cardin)
410-962-4436
More
info
INTERNATIONAL
BLACK
HISTORY NEWS
Canada to
Honor
International
Icon Harriet
Tubman, as a
National
historic
Person, at
May 27, 2011
Plaque
Unveiling in
St.
Catharines,
Ontario
 |
British Methodist
Episcopal Church
Salem Chapel
92 Geneva Street
St.
Catharines, Ontario
L2R 4N2
Tel. (905) 984-6769 |
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Whereas, the British Methodist Methodist Episcopal Church at 93 Geneva Street was
the place of worship and the source of strength and encouragement for Harriet Tubman and her people, and continues today to be a place of worship and a repository of black culture and heritage
for many of their descendants.
Mayor Joseph L. McCaffery
Harriet Tubman Day, March 10, 1990 (view proclamation)
Harriet Tubman 1993 Plaque Program (view program)
Letter From St. Catharines (download)
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Harriet Tubman
finally gets her
plaque
There is tough. And
then there is
Harriet Tubman
tough.
She looks as stern
and hard as a human
being can in old
photographs.
Unsmiling and steely
eyed, Tubman's face
gives every
impression of a
woman who means
business. But there
are reasons for
that.
During one of her
treks into Canada
leading slaves to
freedom along the
Underground Railroad
from the United
States, the iconic
freedom fighter
developed serious
problems with her
teeth. Serious
enough that it
should have stopped
her in her tracks.
But when you are an
outlaw on the run,
flaunting the racist
laws of state and
federal governments,
there isn't time to
stop.
"Tubman herself was
fierce … she pulled
out her own teeth,"
said Rochelle Bush,
church historian for
the Salem chapel at
the British
Methodist Episcopal
Church on Geneva St.
Friday. "As she was
guiding freedom
seekers north to
Canada, she pulled
out her teeth
because they were
driving her crazy.
That's why she
doesn't smile."
Bush regaled the
audience that packed
the church Friday
morning as part of a
ceremony to unveil a
Parks Canada
historical plaque
commemorating
Tubman's role as a
critical conductor
of the railroad, a
loosely connected
series of
safe-houses
African-American
slaves used to
escape to freedom in
Canada.
The church was one
of the final points
on the railroad and
Tubman took up
residence in St.
Catharines for about
a decade, Bush said.
The plaque was
actually issued
years before, but
because of a
squabble over how it
presented Tubman's
birth date it was
kept in storage at
Fort George in
Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Bush and others took
issue with the
plaque giving
Tubman's birth date
as 1822. In fact,
Tubman's exact date
of birth is unknown,
so Bush insisted the
plaque read "circa.
1822."
It wasn't until St.
Catharines MP Rick
Dykstra got involved
that a new plaque
was produced with
the letter "c" added
before the year.
"This has been a
long time coming,"
Bush said before the
unveiling.
However, when she
presented a short
history of Tubman's
life the original
plaque's gaffe came
back to haunt her.
"Tubman, born in
1822," she said
before stopping
herself.
"Circa. 1822," she
said, laughing.
"Circa!"
The plaque will be
displayed at the BME
Church.
glafleche@stcatharinesstandard.ca |
|
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US
Colored
Troops
during
the
Civil
War
|
 |
Presentation:
"US
Colored
Troops
during
the
Civil
War"'
Newark
Historical
Society
on
Tuesday
April
26,
2011
at
7:00PM
at
Newark
City
Council
Chambers.
Admission
is
free.
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Underground
Railroad Free Press?
Independent
reporting on today’s
Underground Railroad
Should Harriet
Tubman Statue
replace John
Hanson's Statue in
Statuary Hall?
Read: The
Underground Railroad
Free Press, March
2011. (click to
download pdf)
|
Update:
The
original
Assembly
bill was
amended
to
request
the US
Congress
to
permit a
third
statue
for
Maryland,
or
otherwise
to
permit a
Tubman
statue
in the
Capitol
on its
own
outside
the
Statuary
Hall
collection.
These
are good
proposals
which we
supported..
Peter H.
Michael,
President
The John
Hanson
Memorial
Association,
Inc.
Sponsor
of the
John
Hanson
National
Memorial
w ::
JohnHansonMemorial.org
e :: mail@JohnHansonMemorial.org
t ::
301.874.0235
f ::
888.605.2fax
2455
Ballenger
Creek
Pike
Adamstown,
Maryland,
21710 |
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Harriet
Tubman Underground Railroad Byway |
Before the Civil
War, African
American Freedom
Seekers
fled north to
freedom through a
combination of
people and
landscapes that
became known as the
"Underground
Railroad."
As the last slave
state, Delaware was
a critical leg to
freedom.
Harriet Tubman and
other "conductors"
led more than 3,000
Freedom Seekers
through Delaware.
Wilmington, Quaker
Thomas Garrett, was
influential on
orchestrating the
Underground Railroad
network in Delaware
through
organization of
members and safe
locations.
more |
|
Harriet Tubman sculpture unveiled in St. Catharines
Posted By JULIE GRECO/QMI Agency
A bust of Harriet Tubman was unveiled in the garden next to the British Methodist Episcopal Church on Geneva St., St. Catharines. The bust was made by artist Frank Rekrut who is seen being photographed by the bust. JULIE JOCSAK Standard Staff
|
ST. CATHARINES — Harriet Tubman has always had a strong historical presence at the British Methodist Episcopal Church in St. Catharines, but now that presence is concrete.
A stone bust of the famed Underground Railroad conductor was unveiled at the church Monday, surrounded by a new meditation garden.
The celebration marked a collaboration that transformed a dead lawn at the church at 92 Geneva St. into a stone path, garden and focal point.
"A lot of people's hearts went into this project," said Rochelle Bush, church historian and Salem Chapel trustee.
The bust was donated by sculptor Frank Rekrut, who spent months creating the likeness.
The garden project, meanwhile, was financed by the St. Catharines Green Committee and St. Catharines Horticultural Society and designed by Eco Landscape Design of St. Catharines.
Other donors contributed to the work's installation, benches and a pedestal.
In a remarkable coincidence, Rekrut began working on a Tubman bust prior to learning the church wanted a statue.
He only took up sculpting a few years ago.
When a copy of a bust of a cardinal by Gian Lorenzo Bernini worked out well, he turned his attention to a local subject.
Rekrut said he often drove by the BME church near work and decided to make a Tubman statue. Meanwhile, ECO had designed a garden next to the church that included a statue in the design, but it wasn't something the church or green committee could afford to commission.
So when Rekrut called to offer his bust for free, everyone was floored.
"I just thought this was a unique opportunity," he said.
Producing a sculpture from a black and white photograph proved challenging.
"We brought home every book in the library we could find," Rekrut said, referring to himself and wife Laura Thompson, who is an oil painter.
"We only found one front-on photo and it's tricky."
Those gathered Monday were enthusiastic about Rekrut's effort.
Tubman escaped slavery from Maryland in 1849 but continued to make trips to the southern states to help others find their freedom.
Eleven of the freedom seekers were brought to St. Catharines in 1851 and joined what is now the BME church, where Tubman herself worshiped.
Bush said the beautification project is in preparation for the 160th anniversary next year of Tubman's first visit to St. Catharines, when a national historic plaque will be unveiled. In 2013, the 100th anniversary of Tubman's death will also be remembered.
Bush searched far and wide for an appropriate quote to accompany the statue on its pedestal — one that wasn't already being used at other Tubman sites in the U.S.
She found very few quotes from Tubman that were recorded.
"We wanted something unique to St. Catharines," she said. "Needle in a hay stack, but it was there."
The obscure and bold quote Bush discovered seemed appropriate for a woman who risked her life to bring more than 300 slaves north of the border.
The statue reads: "I wouldn't trust Uncle Sam with my people no longer. I brought them all clear off to Canada."
website link
More
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Not
Brand or
Size,
But By
Footprint
The
Honorable
Corrine
Brown
3 rd
District
of
Florida
 2010
CBCF
Theme:
“Celebrating
the
Vision,
Continuing
the
Journey,
Advancing
the
Mission.”
Passage
along
the
Underground
Railroad
was a
terrible
and
difficult
journey.
Some
stowed
away
on
boats,
trains,
or
wagons.
But the
majority
of the
enslaved
escaped
by foot,
traveling
largely
at
night
across
rivers,
hiking
through
mountains,
through
swamps,
through
rocky
and
thorny
ground
without
benefit
of
protective
footwear.
They ran
often
without
protection
against
the
cuts, abrasions,
and
bruises
from
objects
on the
ground;
no
protection
from
frostbite
or the
parasites,
no
knowledge
of or
concern
for
brands
and
styles.
They
worked
hard to
leave no
footprints
behind
for
slave catchers
or dogs
to find.
Instead,
they
left
unmistakable
footprints
for us
to
follow
to get
beyond
slavery,
to fight
against
inequities,
to
challenge
stereotypes
and
profiles,
to
stand up
to and
on the
neck of
Jim
Crow,
and to
use in
sizing
the
shoes
for the
feet of
those
who
would
continue
the
journey
to
freedom.
We are
who we
are, not
because
of the
size of
our
feet;
nor can
our
capacity
be
determined
by
the
design,
cost, or
brand of
shoe we
wear. We
have
pursued
our
freedom,
we
stand,
and we
move
forward
in shoes
passed
down
from
generation
to
generation,
broken
in for
our
benefit.
We
follow
the
footprints
left by
fathers,
by
mothers,
and
others
who
walked
and ran
ahead
and
beside
us as
courageous
youth,
bold
leaders,
heads of
households,
conductors,
weary
sojournors,
and
mentors.
Through
this
session,
we
celebrate
their
vision
for
freedom.
We
continue
their
journey.
We
advance
the
mission.
Panel
Participants
Addie L.
Richburg,
Moderator
President,
National
Alliance
of Faith
and
Justice
Susan L.
Taylor,
Speaker
Founder
and CEO,
National
Cares
Mentoring
Movement
Cheryl
T.
Grills,
Ph.D.,
Speaker
President,
Association
of
Blacks
Psychologists,
Inc. and
Associate
Dean,
Bellarmine
College
of
Liberal
Arts
Carlvern
Dunn,
Speaker
Historian,
Kiamsha
Youth
Empowerment
Organization
More
information
download
pdf
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Charter
school
in
tough
neighborhood
gets
all
its
seniors
into
college
Urban Prep Academy senior Keith Greer, along with his classmates, celebrates the news they will receive a free prom in Chicago because 100 percent of the graduating class was accepted into 4-year colleges or universities.
(Tribune photo by Heather Charles / March 5, 2010)
|
The
entire
senior
class
at
Chicago's
only
public
all-male,
all-African-American
high
school
has
been
accepted
to
four-year
colleges.
At
last
count,
the
107
seniors
had
earned
spots
at
72
schools
across
the
nation.
Mayor
Richard
Daley
and
Chicago
Public
Schools
chief
Ron
Huberman
surprised
students
at
an
all-school
assembly
at
Urban
Prep
Academy
for
Young
Men
in
Englewood
this
morning
to
congratulate
them.
It's
the
first
graduating
class
at
Urban
Prep
since
it
opened
its
doors
in
2006.
Huber
man
applauded
the
seniors
for
making
CPS
shine.
"All
of
you
in
the
senior
class
have
shown
that
what
matters
is
perseverance,
what
matters
is
focus,
what
matters
is
having
a
dream
and
following
that
dream,"
Huberman
said.
The
school
enforces
a
strict
uniform
of
black
blazers,
khaki
pants
and
red
ties
--
with
one
exception.
After
a
student
receives
the
news
he
was
accepted
into
college,
he
swaps
his
red
tie
for
a
red
and
gold
one
at
an
assembly.
The
last
13
students
received
their
college
ties
today,
to
thunderous
applause.
Ask
Rayvaughn
Hines
what
college
he
was
accepted
to
and
he'll
answer
with
a
question.
"Do
you
want
me
to
name
them
all?"
For
the
18-year-old
from
Back
of
the
Yards,
college
was
merely
a
concept--never
a
goal--growing
up.
Even
within
the
last
three
years,
he
questioned
if
school,
let
alone
college,
was
for
him.
Now,
the
senior
is
headed
to
the
prestigious
Morehouse
College
in
Atlanta,
Ga.
next
fall.
Hines
remembers
the
moment
he
put
on
his
red
and
gold
tie.
"I
wanted
to
take
my
time
because
I
was
just
so
proud
of
myself,"
he
said.
"I
wanted
everyone
to
see
me
put
it
on."
The
achievement
might
not
merit
a
mayoral
visit
at
one
of
the
city's
elite,
selective
enrollment
high
schools.
But
Urban
Prep,
a
charter
school
that
enrolls
using
a
lottery
in
one
of
the
city's
more
troubled
neighborhoods,
faced
difficult
odds.
Only
4
percent
of
this
year's
senior
class
read
at
grade
level
as
freshmen,
according
to
Tim
King,
the
school's
CEO.
"I
never
had
a
doubt
that
we
would
achieve
this
goal,"
King
said.
"Every
single
person
we
hired
knew
from
the
day
one
that
this
is
what
we
do:
We
get
our
kids
into
college."
College
is
omnipresent
at
the
school.
Before
the
students
begin
their
freshman
year,
they
take
a
field
trip
to
Northwestern
University.
Every
student
is
assigned
a
college
counselor
the
day
he
steps
foot
in
the
school.
The
school
offers
an
extended
day--170,000
more
minutes
over
four
years
compared
to
its
counterparts
across
the
city--and
more
than
double
the
number
of
English
credits
usually
needed
to
graduate.
Even
the
school's
voicemail
has
a
student
declaring
"I
am
college
bound"
before
it
asks
callers
to
dial
an
extension.
Normally,
it
takes
senior
Jerry
Hinds
two
buses
and
45
minutes
to
get
home
from
school.
On
Dec.
11,
the
day
University
of
Illinois
at
Champaign-
Urbana
was
to
post
his
admission
decisions
online
at 5
p.m.,
he
asked
a
friend
to
drive
him
home.
He
went
into
his
bedroom,
told
his
well-wishing
mother
this
was
something
he
had
to
do
alone,
closed
the
door
and
logged
in.
"Yes!
Yes!
Yes!"
he
remembers
screaming.
His
mother,
who
didn't
dare
stray
far,
burst
in
and
began
crying.
That
night
he
made
more
than
30
phone
calls,
at
times
shouting
"I
got
in"
on
his
cell
phone
and
home
phone
at
the
same
time.
"We're
breaking
barriers,"
he
said.
"And
that
feels
great."
www.urbanprep.org
Copyright
(c)
2010,
Chicago
Tribune
|
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|
 SRES
455 ATS 111th CONGRESS 2d
Session S. RES. 455
Honoring the life, heroism, and
service of Harriet Tubman.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED
STATES
March 15, 2010
Mrs. BOXER (for herself, Mr.
BROWNBACK, Mr. SPECTER, Ms.
SNOWE, Mr. SCHUMER, Mrs.
GILLIBRAND, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr.
CARDIN, and Mr. LEVIN) submitted
the following resolution; which
was considered and agreed to
RESOLUTION
Honoring the life, heroism, and
service of Harriet Tubman.
Whereas Harriet Ross Tubman was
born into slavery as Araminta
Ross in Dorchester County,
Maryland, in or around 1820;
|
Whereas in
1849, Ms. Tubman bravely escaped to freedom,
traveling alone for approximately 90 miles
to Pennsylvania;
Whereas, after escaping slavery, Ms. Tubman
participated in the Underground Railroad, a
network of routes, people, and houses that
helped slaves escape to freedom;
Whereas Ms. Tubman became a `conductor' on
the Underground Railroad, courageously
leading approximately 19 expeditions to help
more than 300 slaves to freedom;
Whereas Ms. Tubman served as a spy, nurse,
scout, and cook during the Civil War;
Whereas during her service in the Civil War,
Ms. Tubman became the first woman in the
United States to plan and lead a military
expedition, which resulted in successfully
freeing more than 700 slaves;
Whereas after the Civil War, Ms. Tubman
continued to fight for justice and equality,
including equal rights for African-Americans
and women;
Whereas Ms. Tubman died on March 10, 1913,
in Auburn, New York; and
Whereas the heroic life of Ms. Tubman
continues to serve as an inspiration to the
people of the United States:
Now,
therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) honors the life and courageous heroism
of Harriet Tubman;
(2) recognizes the great contributions made
by Harriet Tubman throughout her lifelong
service and commitment to liberty, justice,
and equality for all; and
(3) encourages the people of the United
States to remember the courageous life of
Harriet Tubman, a true hero.
Passed with Unanimous Consent of the U.S.
Senate 3/15/2010
Mikulski
Announces Funds for Harriet Tubman
Underground Railroad
National Historical Park in Dorchester
County-05/03/2010
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Obama
Honors
Washington,
DC
Emancipation
Day
A new addition to the Oval Office: An original copy of Abraham Lincoln's other emancipation proclamation, the one that freed the slaves of Washington, D.C., on this day in 1862, nine months before issuing the same order for other parts of the country. "We remain forever grateful as a nation for the struggles and sacrifices of those Americans who made that emancipation possible," Obama said in a statement honoring D.C. Emancipation Day.
Obama also used the occasion to advocate statehood rights for Washington, D.C., noting that city residents "pay federal taxes and serve honorably in our armed services," but do not have votes in the U.S. House or Senate.
"And so I urge Congress to finally pass legislation that provides D.C. residents with voting representation and to take steps to improve the Home Rule Charter," Obama said. |
 |
| By Pete Souza, The White House |
(Posted
by David
Jackson):
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2010/04/obama-honors-washington-dcemancipation-day/1
White
House
Office
of the
Press
Secretary
------------------------------
For
Immediate
Release
April
16, 2010
Statement
by the
President
On this
occasion,
we
remember
the day
in 1862
when
President
Lincoln
freed
the
enslaved
people
of
Washington,
DC –
nine
months
before
he
issued
the
Emancipation
Proclamation.
I am
proud
that an
original
copy of
that
document
now
hangs in
the Oval
Office,
and we
remain
forever
grateful
as a
nation
for the
struggles
and
sacrifices
of those
Americans
who made
that
emancipation
possible.
Americans
from all
walks of
life are
gathering
in
Washington
today to
remind
members
of
Congress
that
although
DC
residents
pay
federal
taxes
and
serve
honorably
in our
armed
services,
they do
not have
a vote
in
Congress
or full
autonomy
over
local
issues.
And so I
urge
Congress
to
finally
pass
legislation
that
provides
DC
residents
with
voting
representation
and to
take
steps to
improve
the Home
Rule
Charter.
President
Abraham
Lincoln
signed
the
District
of
Columbia
Emancipation
Act into
law on
April
16,
1862.
The Act
ended
slavery
in the
nation's
capital,
freeing
some
3,100
enslaved
persons,
and is
the only
example
in which
the
Federal
Government
compensated
slaveholders
for the
enslaved
persons
they
once
held.
 Mrs.
Loretta
Carter
Hanes,
an
educator,
researcher
and the
president
of DC
Reading
Is
Fundamental,
Inc.,
researched,
initiated
and
spearheaded
the
revival
of the
District
of
Columbia
Emancipation
Commemoration.
Since
1991,
Mrs.
Hanes
and DC
Reading
Is
Fundamental,
along
with her
son
Peter
and
Historians
C.R.
Gibbs
and
Vincent
deForest,
have
organized
annual
DC
Emancipation
Commemoration
public
educational
programs.
Her
untiring
efforts
arose to
the
attention
of
community
groups
like the
United
Black
Fund,
historic
churches
such as
the All
Souls
Church
Unitarian
and
Asbury
United
Methodist
Church,
and
local
and
Federal
Government
officials,
including
the U.S.
National
Archives,
U.S.
National
Park
Service
and
Members
of the
U.S.
Congress.
Mrs.
Hanes
inspired
these
and
other
organizations
and
individuals
to mark
the DC
Emancipation
Act with
annual
educational
and
celebratory
events
across
the
nation's
capital.
Such
combined
advocacy
for this
watershed
event in
our
nation's
history
led then
DC Mayor
Anthony
Williams
to sign
into law
in 2005
that
each
April
16th
thereafter
would be
Emancipation
Day, a
public
legal
holiday.
Enslavement
to
Emancipation,
a new
Government
of the
District
of
Columbia
documentary
film,
covers
the
history
of
Washington,
DC, from
enslavement
to
emancipation
to civil
rights
to
voting
rights,
in the
context
of
United
States
history
(run
time: 60
minutes).
The free
online
documentary
includes
historic
documents,
images,
video
and
dramatic
readings
and
interviews
of
various
experts
that
combine
to
provide
a
compelling
portrait
of the
history
of the
nation's
capital.
[The
online
video is
best
viewed
in
Microsoft
Internet
Explorer
7.0 or
Mozilla
Firefox
3.6 or
better].
To view
the free
video,
visit:
http://os.dc.gov/os/cwp/view,a,1207,q,643856.asp
Related
Educational
Resources
|
|
 Katie
Washington
is Notre
Dame's
first
black
valedictorian
History
is being
made at
the
University
of Notre
Dame
this
spring.
In the
161
years
the
University
of Notre
Dame has
been
awarding
degrees,
never
had
there
been an
African-American
as
valedictorian.
Until
this
year.
She's
Katie
Washington
of Gary,
Indiana.
She
carries
a 4.0
GPA
majoring
in
biology
and
minoring
in
Catholic
social
teaching.
According
to the
Northwest
Indiana
Times,
Washington
plans to
continue
her
studies
at Johns
Hopkins
University
and
follow
in her
father's
footsteps
into
medicine.
more |
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Smithsonian Receives
Rare Harriet Tubman
Items
more |
| |
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Smithsonian
3/10/2010 News
Release Harriet
Tubman Collection
Unveiled
by National Museum
of African American
History and Culture
Harriet Tubman (ca.
1822-1913), was an
abolitionist,
Underground Railroad
conductor, U.S.
Civil War nurse,
scout, and spy,
women’s suffragist,
and humanitarian.
She was a shero and
daughter of both the
USA and Canada. The
Salem Chapel British
Methodist Episcopal
(BME) Church, in
Saint Catharines,
Ontario, was
associated with
abolitionist
activity and it was
also Tubman’s
church. The
Government of Canada
designated the
church as a National
Historic Site of
Canada in 2000. The
Government of Canada
also designated
Tubman as a National
Historic Person of
Canada in 2005 (The
plaque dedication
program has not yet
taken place) (See
the Parks Canada
Black Heritage
Portal at
http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/culture/mhn-bhm/index.aspx
)
Related U.S.
Congressional
Bill-S.227 Harriet
Tubman National
Historical Park and
Harriet Tubman
Underground Railroad
National Historical
Park Act. When this
bill is signed into
law by President
Obama, it would
create two National
Historical Parks,
one in Maryland,
Tubman’s birth
state, and the other
in Auburn, NY, where
Tubman lived in her
later years, that
includes her home,
the home for elderly
Blacks that she
founded, a
neighboring cemetery
where she is
interred, and the
nearby church where
she worshipped (See
the National Park
Service Harriet
Tubman Special
Resource Study with
weblinks to Bill
S.227 at
http://www.harriettubmanstudy.org/
).
Harriet Tubman Day
Harriet Tubman
passed away on March
10, 1913. Harriet
Tubman Day is
commemorated
annually on March 10th,
in several states,
including Maryland,
Delaware, New York,
and the City of
Saint Catharines,
Ontario, Canada.
March 10, 2013 will
mark the 100th
anniversary of
Harriet Tubman’s
passing and the
State of Maryland is
already looking
toward that
centennial. Lou
Fields the Maryland
Statewide
Coordinator for
Harriet Tubman Day.
Vince, Vivian, Dr.
Blockson and I are
collaborating to
encourage
international
(Canada-USA)
recognition of
Harriet Tubman’s
legacy.
Regards,
Peter Hanes
Washington Post
3/10/2010 Page C01
Smithsonian Gets 39
Harriet Tubman
Artifacts
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/10/AR2010031003451.html
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A hymn book owned by
Harriet Tubman, abolitionist and conductor of the
Underground Railroad, was among the artifacts
displayed as part of the Women’s History Month
celebration held at the Charles L. Blockson
Afro-American Collection on March 5. The Blockson
Collection displayed the artifacts — which included a
shawl given to Tubman by Queen Victoria of England, a
memorial program from her funeral and other
collectables — as part of its yearly homage to notable
African American women.
This year’s honorees
were: City Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell; author and
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Photo by Ryan S. Brandenberg/Temple University
A hymn
book owned by Harriet Tubman
|
|
educator Marie T. Bogle;
Odunde Festival founder Lois Fernandez; television
news pioneer Trudy Haines; Philadelphia Inquirer
columnist Annette John-Hall; founder and president of
the American Women’s History Museum Audrey
Johnson-Thornton; philanthropist Beverly Lomax; and
Willa Ward-Royster, last remaining member of the
gospel group the Clara Ward Singers. Poet and
publisher for Third World Press Haki Madhubuti
performed several poems as part of the festivities,
which were broadcast live on WURD 990-AM and hosted by
the station’s programming director, Thera Martin
Connelly.
http://www.temple.edu/newsroom/2008_2009/03/stories/blockson_whm.htm |
Keeping Stories
Alive
Experts and uncles,
historians and teens
share tales of the
Underground Railroad
Read More |
|
WBOC 16 DelMarva's
News Leader
Salisbury/Dover/Milton
Tubman Park Gets
Nearly $1.2M From
Park Service
Posted: Sep 14, 2009
11:33 AM EDT
 |
|
Harriet
Tubman was
born in
Dorchester
County,
where she
spent nearly
30 years as
a slave
before
escaping in
1849.
|
BALTIMORE-
A $1,191,312
National Park
Service grant will
help develop outdoor
recreation
facilities in
Harriet Tubman
Underground Railroad
State Park in
Dorchester County on
Maryland's Eastern
Shore.
Sens. Benjamin
Cardin and Barbara
Mikulski and Rep.
Frank Kratovil
announced the grant
from the park
service's Land and
Water Conservation
Fund on Monday.
"Born on the Eastern
Shore of Maryland in
Dorchester County,
Harriet Tubman left
an indelible mark on
history as the
'conductor' of the
Underground
Railroad, a
suffragist, and
humanitarian, yet,
the places
associated with her
life and work are
not well known,"
Kratovil said.
"Establishing
Dorchester County's
first state park as
a way of honoring
her contributions to
American history is
not only a
respectful way to
honor a woman whose
commitment to the
rights of others was
unmatched, but it
serves as a
meaningful method of
preserving our
environment,
protecting wildlife,
and passing a
historical legacy
onto our children
and future
generations."
Maryland expects to
begin site
development at the
17-acre site in
December 2010 with
completion expected
approximately a year
later.
Tubman was born in
Dorchester County,
where she spent
nearly 30 years as a
slave before
escaping in 1849.
She later led
hundreds of slaves
to freedom as part
of the anti-slavery
resistance network
known as the
Underground
Railroad.
Earlier this week,
Cardin, Mikulski and
Kratovil announced
an 823-acre addition
to the adjacent
Blackwater National
Wildlife Refuge.
Senators Cardin &
Mikulski Introduce
Bill in 111th
Congress To Honor
Harriet Tubman's
Life (download pdf) |
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Charles L. Blockson, Curator
Charles L. Blockson Afro-American
Collection
Testimony at the Underground Railroad
Network to Freedom Act of 1997 Hearings
BILL, H.R. 1635
To establish within the United States National Park Service
the
National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program
Longworth House Office
Building, Room 1324, Washington, DC
July 22, 1997 – 10 am
It is indeed an honor for me to participate
in this historical event, in an effort to preserve the
former sites of the Underground Railroad, a subject that I
have been committed to since I was a child. When I was ten
years old, my grandfather told me that my great grandfather
and other members of my family escaped slavery on the
Freedom Train, that was commonly known as the Underground
Railroad. Although my great grandfather returned to the
United States after the Civil War, other relatives remained
in various parts of Canada to include Nova Scotia.
For more than thirty years, I have
researched, collected and written about this important
American epic. My greatest contribution was the cover story
I wrote for National Geographic magazine in July 1984. It
proved to be a popular article, receiving hundreds of
letters worldwide, stimulating interest in the preservation
of these historical sites. The article also gave me an
opportunity to travel throughout the nation, covering 20
states, including the provinces of Canada.
To my astonishment, I discovered with great
sadness that many of the sites have been demolished due to
urban removal, particularly the ones in the African American
community. I also discovered that many of the sites today
are under private ownership. In June of 1988, I was invited
to speak by the Quindaro Town Preservation Society in Kansas
City, Kansas, to help save the Quindaro ruins from being
destroyed to build a landfill at the Old Quindaro town
site. Quindaro was once an abolitionist settlement and a
station for blacks fleeing slavery via the Underground
Railroad.
In 1990, my connection with the Underground
Railroad Study began with former U.S. Representative Peter
H. Kostmayer (D., Pa.) who, after reading my book the
Underground Railroad in Pennsylvania and my article in
National Geographic, asked me if it was possible for these
former sites to be preserved, and if so, he would introduce
a bill to the Secretary of Interior to designate a route as
the Underground Railroad Historic Trail, install suitable
signs and markers and provide maps, brochures and other
informational devices to assist the public. After the
proposal was approved, I, along with several others were
asked to testify before a similar Committee in Congress.
Consequently, Rep. Kostmayer asked me to select a group of
people that represented various parts of the nation to from
an Advisory Committee. His staff then contacted the
prospective member of the Advisory Committee. This was how
the Advisory Committee was formed, and I was selected by
them as Chair. Four months before the Advisory Committee
was organized, a press conference was held, at which I
participated with Rep. Kostmayer, at Philadelphia’s Mother
Bethel A.M.E. Church. Mother Bethel, the oldest A.M.E.
Church in the country, was one of the most important
stations that hid hundreds of slaves. This press conference
generated a growing interest throughout the nation to
preserve the former Underground Railroad sites.
The Advisory Committee met in various parts
of the United States visiting the Underground Railroad
sites. I organized several tours, some of which I led.
Last year, I took a group of school teachers from the
Washington, DC area on a tour sponsored by National
Geographic. We traveled from Harriet Tubman’s birthplace in
Bucktown, MD, to Underground Railroad sites in Delaware, New
Jersey, Pennsylvania and upstate New York, to include
Harriet Tubman’s and Frederick Douglass’ grave-site and then
into Canada. I was also a consultant for two television
documentaries about the Underground Railroad.
Because of the ongoing international interest
in the Underground Railroad and its idealized history, in
which fact and memory intertwine to epitomize a period of
rich heritage, it is imperative that Bill, H.R. 1635 is
implemented and receive the proper funding to better
preserve and exhibit our national heritage. It is also
imperative that an interpretive handbook is written by
scholars and consultants to teach the history and preserve
the memories of those brave souls who represented the
morality of Antebellum America; remembering the heroic
essence and hardships of great spirits such as Frederick
Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Levi Coffin, John Brown, Lucreatia
Mott, William Still, Native Americans such as, Chief
Pontiac, and a host of others. We realize that no one
institution, book or in-depth study can tell the full story
of this pivotal period in the history of America, however,
we can achieve its fullest expression through the lives of
such luminaries and the mechanisms they used for freedom in
this important chapter in history. Increasing the need for
wider recognition, we must challenge the deployment of the
national media in presenting the cultural value of our
heritage constructively, to inform rather than entertain.
In closing, I would like to commend the work
of the staff of the National Park Service for keeping this
project alive; a special thanks to the Underground Railroad
Study Advisory Committee for your efforts and hard work over
the past five years that have turned a necessity into a
possible reality. Without your help and the help of the
hundreds of people throughout the nation, who supported this
great project, we would not have been able to attain its
goal. And, thanks to those of you who have come today, many
from great distances, to support the project.
In the words of the old slave spiritual, that
was sung in connection with the Underground Railroad,
“Please Don’t Let This Harvest Pass.” Let this BILL become
a reality so that our children of all races, creeds and
colors can enter into the 21st century in
brotherhood and sisterhood.
www.nps.gov/undergroundrr/contents.htm |
THE MOSES OF HER PEOPLE
SARAH BRADFORD
Letter from Frederick
Douglass.
ROCHESTER,
August 29, 1868
 DEAR HARRIET: I
am glad to know that the story of your eventful life has
been written by a kind lady,
and that the same is soon to be published. You ask for what
you do not need when you call upon me for a word of
commendation. I need such words from you far more than
you can need them from me, especially where your superior
labors and devotion to the cause of the lately enslaved of
our land are known as I know them. The difference between us
is very marked. Most that I have done and suffered in the
service of our cause has been in public, and I have received
much encouragement at every step of the way. You, on the
other hand, have labored in a private way. I have wrought in
the day—you in the night. I have had the applause of the
crowd and the satisfaction that comes of being approved by
the multitude, while the most that you have done has been
witnessed by a few trembling, scarred, and foot-sore bondmen
and women, whom you have led out of the house of bondage,
and whose heartfelt “God bless you” has been your
only reward. The midnight sky and the silent stars have been
the witnesses of your devotion to freedom and of your
heroism. Excepting John Brown—of sacred memory—I know of no
one who has willingly encountered more perils and hardships
to serve our enslaved people than you have. Much that you
have done would seem improbable to, those who do not know
you as I know you. It is to me a great pleasure and a great
privilege to bear testimony to your character and your
works, and to say to those to whom you may come, that I
regard you in every way truthful and trustworthy.
Your friend,
FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
Letter from Wendell
Phillips.
June 16, 1868.
DEAR MADAME: The
last time I ever saw John Brown was under my roof, as he
brought Harriet Tubman to me saying: “Mr. Phillips, I
bring you one of the best and bravest persons on this
continent—General Tubman, as we call her.”
He
then went on to recount her labors and sacrifices in behalf
of her race. After that, Harriet spent some time in Boston,
earning the confidence and admiration of all those who were
working for freedom. With their aid she went to the South
more than once, returning always with a squad of
self-emancipated men, women, and children, for whom her
marvelous skill had opened the way of escape. After the war
broke out, she was sent with endorsements from Governor
Andrew and his friends to South Carolina, where in the
service of the Nation she rendered most important and
efficient aid to our army.
In my
opinion there are few captains, perhaps few colonels, who
have done more for the loyal cause since the war began, and
few men who did before that time more for the colored race,
than our fearless and most sagacious friend, Harriet.
Faithfully yours,
WENDELL PHILLIPS.
Extracts from a Letter
written by Mr. Sanborn, Secretary of the Massachusetts Board
of State Charities.
MY DEAR MADAME:
Mr. Phillips has sent me your note, asking for
reminiscences of Harriet Tubman, and testimonials to her
extraordinary story, which all her New England friends will,
I am sure, be glad to furnish.
I
never had reason to doubt the truth of what Harriet said in
regard to her own career, for I found her singularly
truthful. Her imagination is warm and rich, and there is a
whole region of the marvelous in her nature, which has
manifested itself at times remarkably. Her dreams and
visions, misgivings and forewarnings, ought not to be
omitted in any life of her, particularly those relating to
John Brown.
She
was in his confidence in 1858-59, and he had a great regard
for her, which he often expressed to me. She aided him in
his plans, and expected to do so still further, when his
career was closed by that wonderful campaign in Virginia.
The first time she came to my house, in Concord, after that
tragedy, she was shown into a room in the evening, where
Brackett’s bust of John Brown was standing. The sight of it,
which was new to her, threw her into a sort of ecstasy of
sorrow and admiration, and she went on in her rhapsodical
way to pronounce his apotheosis.
She
has often been in Concord, where she resided at the houses
of Emerson, Alcott, the Whitneys, the Brooks family, Mrs.
Horace Mann, and other well-known persons. They all admired
and respected her, and nobody doubted the reality of her
adventures. She was too
real a person to be suspected. In 1862, I think it
was, she went from Boston to Port Royal, under the advice
and encouragement of Mr. Garrison, Governor Andrew, Dr.
Howe, and other leading people. Her career in South Carolina
is well known to some of our officers, and I think to
Colonel Higginson, now of Newport, R.I., and Colonel James
Montgomery, of Kansas, to both of whom she was useful as a
spy and guide, if I mistake not. I regard her as, on the
whole, the most extraordinary person of her race I have ever
met. She is a negro of pure, or most pure blood, can neither
read not write, and has the characteristics of her race and
condition. But she has done what can scarcely be credited on
the best authority, and she has accomplished her purposes
with a coolness, foresight, patience and wisdom, which in a
white man would have raised him to the highest pitch
of reputation.
I am, dear Madame, very truly
your servant.
F.B. SANBORN
Letter from Col. James
Montgomery.
ST. HELENA ISLAND, S.C., July
6, 1863.
HEADQUARTERS COLORED BRIGADE.
BRIG.-GEN. GILMORE,
Commanding Department of the South—
GENERAL: I wish
to commend to your attention, Mrs. Harriet Tubman, a most
remarkable woman, and invaluable as a scout. I have been
acquainted with her character and actions for several years.
I am,
General, your most ob’t servant,
JAMES MONTGOMERY, Col. Com. Brigade.
Letter from Mrs. Gen. A.
Baird
PETERBORO, Nov. 24, 1864.
The bearer
of this, Harriet Tubman, a most excellent woman, who has
rendered faithful
And good services to our Union
army, not only in the hospitals, but in various capacities,
having been employed under Government at Hilton Head, and in
Florida; and I commend her to the protection of all officers
in whose department she may happen to be.
She
has been known and esteemed for years by the family of my
uncle, Hon. Gerrit Smith, as a person of great rectitude and
capabilities.
MRS. GEN. A. BAIRD.
Letter from Hon. Gerrit Smith.
PETERBORO, N.Y., Nov. 4, 1867.
I have
known Mrs. Harriet Tubman for many years. Seldom, if ever,
have I met with a person more philanthropic, more
self-denying, and of more bravery. Nor must I omit to say
that she combines with her sublime spirit, remarkable
discernment and judgment.
During
the late war, Mrs. Tubman was eminently faithful and useful
to the cause of our country. She is poor and has poor
parents. Such a servant of the country should be well paid
by the country. I hope that the Government will look into
her case.
GERRIT SMITH.
Testimonial from Gerrit Smith.
PETERBORO, Nov. 22, 1864.
The
bearer, Harriet Tubman, needs not any recommendation. Nearly
all the nation over, she has been heard of for her wisdom,
integrity, patriotism, and bravery. The cause of freedom
owes her much. The country owes her much.
I have
known Harriet for many years, and I hold her in my high
esteem.
GERRIT SMITH.
Certificate from Henry K.
Durrant, Acting Asst. Surgeon, U.S.A.
I certify that I
have been acquainted with Harriet Tubman for nearly two
years; and my position as Medical Officer in charge of
“contrabands” in this town and in hospital, has given me
frequent and ample opportunities to observe her general
deportment; particularly her kindness and attention to the
sick and suffering of her own race. I take much pleasure in
testifying to the esteem in which she is generally held.
HENRY K. DURRANT,
Acting Assistant Surgeon, U.S.A.
In charge “Contraband” Hospital.
Dated at Beaufort, S.C., the 3d day of May, 1864.
I concur fully in the above.
R. SAXTON, Brig.- Gen. Vol.
A Letter from Gen. Saxton to a lady of Auburn.
ATLANTA, Ga.,
March 21, 1868.
MY DEAR MADAME:
I have just received your letter informing me that Hon. Wm.
H. Seward, Secretary of State, would present a petition to
Congress for a pension to Harriet Tubman, for services
rendered in the Union Army during the late war. I can bear
witness to the value of her services in South Carolina and
Florida. She was employed in the hospitals and as a spy. She
made many a raid inside the enemy’s lines, displaying
remarkable courage, zeal, and fidelity. She was employed by
General Hunter, and I think by Generals Stevens and Sherman,
and is as deserving of a pension from the Government for her
services as any other of its faithful servants.
I am very truly yours,
RUFUS SAXON, Bvt. Brig.-Gen., U.S.A.
Rev.
Samuel I. May, in his recollections of the anti-slavery
conflict, after mentioning the case of an old slave mother,
whom he vainly endeavored to assist her son in buying from
her master, says:
“I did
not until four years after know that remarkable woman
Harriet, or I might have engaged her services, in the
assurance that she would have bought off the old woman
without paying for her inalienable right—her
liberty.”
Mr.
May in another place says of Harriet, that she deserves to
be placed first on the list of American heroines, and
then proceeds to give a short account of her labors, varying
very little from that given in this book.
To be continued…
The Rescue of Charles Nalle –
Troy Whig, April 28, 1859.
HARRIET TUBMAN
This republication of Sarah H.
Bradford’s memorable biography of Harriet Tubman is an
exact, unaltered and unabridged, reprint of the expanded
second edition of 1886. The first edition appeared in 1869.
Both were privately printed by Mrs. Bradford for the purpose
of raising funds to aid “the Moses of her people.”
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Bringing 'stationmaster' Thomas Garrett
to life
By ROBIN
BROWN, The News Journal
Posted Tuesday, August 21, 2007 |
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A new sound -- a
blacksmith's hammer -- will ring joyful noise as
August Quarterly, the nation's oldest
African-American festival, wraps a month of
activities this weekend.
Retired Delaware National Guard Sgt. Maj. Willis
Phelps, one of Delaware's top historical
interpreters, will bring his blacksmith gear and
plenty of stories Sunday afternoon, for the final
day's gospel fest at Tubman-Garrett Park in
Wilmington. Although best known for his portrayal
of America's first African-American soldiers --
earning him the nickname "Delaware's Buffalo
Soldier" -- Phelps will portray a Civil War-era
blacksmith.
Phelps bases his
blacksmith on several Delawareans in the time of
slavery -- most notably a Wilmington Quaker
considered under-appreciated by history.
He was Thomas
Garrett, the lesser-known namesake of the city
park. Like better-known Harriet Tubman, he was a
"stationmaster," or leader in the secret
Underground Railroad, smuggling slaves to the
North.
Garrett is credited
with helping more than 2,700 slaves to freedom,
according to the Delaware Public Archives.
"No other point along
the entire Underground Network handled as much
human traffic as did the Garrett house," says the
Harriet Tubman Historical Society. "For many
fugitive slaves en route to Philadelphia and other
points north, the City of Wilmington became known
as 'A Last Stop Before Freedom.' "
Like many free black
people of the day, a woman who worked for the
Garrett family was abducted and sold into slavery.
Garrett kept going, despite being convicted of
aiding runaway slaves.
He also was an early,
grassroots supporter of the first Wilmington civil
rights movement, from which came free worship and
August Quarterly.
When Bishop Peter
Spencer in 1813 established the nation's first
independent black church -- defying laws against
people of color assembling without white
supervision -- Garrett helped pay for land where
the church was built.
Now known as the
Mother African Union First Colored Methodist
Protestant Church, or Mother AU Church, this
independent black church ensured people of color
the freedoms of religion, speech and assembly for
the first time. It started August Quarterly in
1814 to celebrate.
When Garrett died in
1871, black Wilmingtonians reverently carried him
from his house to the Quaker meeting house
cemetery at Fourth and West, where he is buried.
Garrett's home and
way-station to freedom stayed around more than a
century later, but was razed in the Bicentennial
year, 1976, for a new parking lot.
Garrett is honored in
a state historic marker erected about two blocks
from his home, and his city duly honored him and
Tubman by naming the riverside park that will fill
this weekend to celebrate not only religious
freedom but also the suffering and sacrifices of
past generations who made it possible.
As Phelps on Sunday
strikes hammer to hot metal, to make tools or
sharpen them as Garrett did, he will demonstrate
one of the few 1800s crafts open to black people.
And he will tell stories to all who are willing to
listen about those who reached freedom here and
those who opened their hearts and homes to help
them.
People like Thomas
Garrett.
Write to Robin Brown
at The News Journal, Box 15505, Wilmington, DE
19850; fax 324-5509; call 324-2856; or e-mail
backstory@delawareonline.com
More |
Willis Phelps shows Civil War-era
blacksmithing to Matthew Holstein, 8, of Bear, last
summer at Fort Delaware. Phelps will portray his new
blacksmith persona -- drawing on the life of
abolitionist Thomas Garrett and others -- from 2 to 5
p.m. Sunday at August Quarterly at Tubman-Garrett Park,
Wilmington.
News Journal file/BOB HERBERT
Thomas Garrett
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Harriet Tubman Day set:
Public invited to celebration Saturday
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Harriet Tubman
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CAMBRIDGE - The Harriet Tubman
Organization invites the community to attend the Harriet Tubman
Day Annual Celebration on Saturday, at the Elks Lodge, 618 Pine
St., from 6 to 10 p.m. The annual banquet and program is
sponsored by the Harriet Tubman Organization with Donald Pinder,
president, and Evelyn Townsend, vice president.
For historical accuracy, the first Harriet Tubman Day
Celebration began in the late 1960s and was arranged by Addie
Clash Travers. The day was with a weekend of historical and
cultural activities in the city of Cambridge, ending in church
services at the historical Bazzel AME Church at Bucktown.
The Harriet Tubman Historical Society, voice/advocate for the
preservation and recognition of Harriet Tubman and the
Underground Railroad reached Dorchester County during the early
1980s in search of Harriet Tubman's trail and to reconnect the
Maryland & Delaware Underground Railroad. Vivian Abdur-Rahim
visited the Dorchester County Public Library and spoke with
librarian Gloria Henry.
Ms. Henry led her directly to Addie Clash Travers, Linda
Wheatley and members of the Harriet Tubman Association (now the
Harriet Tubman Organization). Together, both organizations
established a friendship and network that continues today with
Evelyn Townsend and officials of the Harriet Tubman
Organization.
The Harriet Tubman Historical Society and the Harriet Tubman
Association of Dorchester County, joined to sponsor the first
National Harriet Tubman Day Celebration. Sen. Joseph R. Biden
Jr., D-Del., the late Sen. Bill Roth and Rep. Thomas Carper,
D-Del., sponsored Harriet Tubman Day legislation in the United
States Congress .
Harriet Tubman Day was proclaimed
by President Bush, Congress, more than 20 governors, elected
officials, cities, and St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada.
On March 9, 1990, the Harriet Tubman Historical Society
sponsored the Harriet Tubman Day cultural program in Wilmington;
March 10, 1990, the first Harriet Tubman Freedom Tour, departed
from Wilmington, stopping at Underground Railroad sites in
Delaware, crossing the Choptank River, en route to the
celebration banquet in Cambridge.
Since the Harriet Tubman Day celebration in the late 1960s and
the first National Harriet Tubman Day, March 10, 1990, several
major events of interest have been reported:
l $50,000 was awarded to Evelyn Townsend to support the Harriet
Tubman Organization "to pay the mortgage on the group's Race
Street Headquarters and to conduct major repairs," Mrs. Townsend
said as she received the check from Del, Rudy Cane;
l Harriet Tubman Millennium Pilgrimage sponsored by Addie
Richburg & the International Network to Freedom, Washington,
D.C. May 2000;
l Dedication of the Harriet
Tubman Memorial Garden, May 22, 2000, Cambridge;
l Harriet Tubman Highway, a stretch of U.S. 50 was dedicated to
Tubman;
l The Harriet Tubman Special Resource Study legislation
sponsored by New York Sen. Charles Schumer and Maryland Sen.
Paul Sarbanes;
l The Web site is www.HarrietTubmanStudy.org
Gov. George Pataki in 2003 proclaimed March 10 a holiday in the
state of New York, initiated by the Black Women Leadership
Caucus.
During the 2000 session of the Maryland General Assembly, the
African American Tourism Council of Maryland and the Harriet
Tubman Organization of Cambridge were successful in getting
Senate Joint Resolution 12 passed to designate March 10 every
year as Harriet Tubman Day in Maryland. Louis Fields played an
important role in establishing the day.
The Harriet Tubman Historical Society wrote letters to the
Congressional Black Caucus May 1999, requesting their support
for the Harriet Tubman National Holiday. Theme: The Millennium
Project for Peace and Reconciliation.
The community is invited to join the Harriet Tubman Organization
Saturday and meet descendants and friends at the Harriet Tubman
Annual Celebration.
For tickets contact The Harriet Tubman Organization, 424 Race
St. or Donald Pinder at (410) 228-0401. Tickets for adults are
$20 and include the Harriet Tubman dinner and cultural program;
half-price for children under 12.
Daily Banner
Contact Information:
Address
1000 Goodwill Road
P.O. Box 580
Cambridge, MD 21613
Tubman banquet an inspiration
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At the annual Harriet Tubman Day Banquet
at Elks Lodge No. 223 Saturday, The Moves of Praise dance
company treated guests to an inspirational performance. |
By Renee Gilliard, Daily Banner
CAMBRIDGE — Saturday’s annual Harriet Tubman
Day Banquet gave many guests the opportunity to reflect on the
significant contribution made by one of the “conductors” of the
Underground Railroad.
The annual event at the Elks Lodge No. 223
celebrates the life of Harriet Tubman on the anniversary of her
death in 1913.
Emcee Royce Sampson led those in attendance on
a journey through Ms. Tubman’s contributions to the African
American community and society as a whole through a variety of
speeches and musical performances.
“We are so grateful that there were people
like Harriet Tubman…and it makes no difference what color our
skin may be, we are all children of God,” Mr. Sampson shared as
he set the spiritual tone for the evening.
The evening began with a selection from the
Warriors of Worship choral group and the Waugh Chapel Gospel
choir, who got the crowd of nearly 100 clapping in unison to a
variety of Christian music.
The Moves of Praise dance company then
presented a series of dances, with a range of performers from
toddlers to teenagers. Their interpretive movements were
inspired by faith and slavery and brought many in attendance to
tears.
Evelyn Townsend, a retired teacher, welcomed
guests to the event and reinforced a tone of faith saying,
“[Harriet Tubman] had faith in God and took
her life in her own hands, not letting anything come between her
and her faith in God.”
Guests had the opportunity to dine while
listening to the words of the Rev. Lena Dennis, keynote speaker.
The reverend is a Dorchester native and pastor of Eastern United
Methodist Church in Baltimore.
Her passion for Christianity took her to West
Africa where she conducted Bible studies with young adults and
taught students about marriage, sex education, and HIV and AIDS.
Vivica Grissom, a theologian from Philadelphia
was also in attendance. The event brought her to Cambridge as a
descendant of Harriet Tubman.
SENATE
STATE OF MISSOURI
Whereas,
the members of the Missouri Senate always welcome the
opportunity to acknowledge milestone events in the histories of
Show-Me State communities and neighborhoods that are dedicated
to improving the future by remembering the past; and
Whereas, on March 10,
2007, Harriet Tubman Day will be observed in Kansas City,
Missouri, as a part of the Women’s History Month celebration at
the Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Museum; and
Whereas,
Harriet Ross Tubman is closely associated with the struggle for
civil rights and with the Underground Railroad that helped many
African Americans win their personal freedom by assisting them
on their arduous journey out of slave states during the Civil
War; and
Whereas, the
inaugural Harriet Tubman Day in Kansas City is taking place in
large measure because of the steadfast vision and activities of
Shirley Johnson; and
Whereas,
in addition to serving as a memorial to Harriet Tubman, Harriet
Tubman Day will entail awards, certificates, ribbons, and the
giving of a special Freedom Award to an outstanding and worthy
citizen; and
Whereas,
Harriet Tubman Day also will involve more than one hundred
schools, some of whose students will perform selections
depicting historical tributes honoring women in history; and
Whereas, Harriet
Tubman day began in Cambridge, Maryland, in the late 1960s due
to the leadership efforts of Addie Clash Travers, who organized
Father’s Day weekend historical and cultural activities that
concluded in services at the historic Bazzel AME Church in
nearby Bucktown, Maryland; and
Whereas, Harriet
Tubman Day became a national celebration in 1990 when the
Harriet Tubman Historical Society joined with the Harriet Tubman
Association of Dorchester County, Maryland, the United States
Congress, more than twenty state governors, and many city
officials to dedicate March 10th in her honor:
Now Therefore, Be It
Resolved that we, the members of the Missouri Senate,
Ninety-fourth General Assembly, join to applaud the work, goals,
and accomplishments associated with the life of Harriet Tubman
and to convey to all of those involved this legislative body’s
most hearfelt best wishes for a highly successful Harriet Tubman
Day in Kansas City; and
Be It Further Resolved that
the Secretary of the Senate be instructed to prepare a properly
inscribed copy of this resolution for presentation at the
Harriet Tubman Day program in Kansas City, Missouri.
Offered by
Senator Coleman
Maida J. Coleman
State of Missouri:
City of Jefferson:
I, Michael R. Gibbons,
President Pro Tem of the Senate, do hereby certify the above and
foregoing to be a full, true and completed copy of Senate
Resolution No. 518 offered into and adopted on March 6, 2007, as
fully as the same appears of record.
In Testimony Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of the Senate of the
State of Missouri this 6th
day of March, A.D. 2007.
Michael R. Gibbons
President Pro Tem
94th General Assembly
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Sense of Historical
Disparity |
Harriet Tubman's relatives say she
deserves same due as fellow Marylander and abolitionist
Frederick Douglass
Originally published February 28, 2007
"What she did, nobody else did. He
[Douglass] had the exposure, while she was leading a secret
organization," Pinder said. "Very few people saw her, so she
was never known nationally like Douglass. Harriet was an
ordinary person who could not read or write, but an
extraordinary person who gave all those people hope."
Two new government projects may help redress the imbalance.
The state has convened a working group to identify land for a
modern Tubman museum in Dorchester County. The National Park
Service is considering a Harriet Tubman National Park, either
in Maryland or upstate New York.
Maryland can make a strong
case for the park.
Born into slavery, Tubman grew up on a plantation in Bucktown
owned by the Brodess family. Her youth was spent working
fields, hunting, crabbing - and yearning for freedom.
Her first attempt to escape with her brothers ended in failure
when they convinced her to turn back. Later, acting on her
own, she walked away from the plantation one night. She made
it to Pennsylvania, a free state. |
Valerie Manokey
(Sun photo by Doug Kapustin)
Feb 23, 2007
Relatives of Harriet Tubman
(Sun photo by Doug Kapustin)
Feb 23, 2007
Harriet Ross Tubman Remembrance Day |
She made eight or nine expeditions deep into Maryland to
rescue scores of slaves, many of them from her family network.
According to legend, she carried a musket - both for
protection against capture and to keep wavering escapees from
turning back and betraying the group.
Employing ruses and disguises, she became known as Moses for
delivering some of her people from bondage. She became so
successful that slave catchers offered a bounty of at least
$12,000 for her apprehension.
She was never caught.
During the Civil War, she worked as a Union spy and nurse.
Afterward, she turned to women's rights as her cause and
founded a charitable home for the poor and elderly.
Married twice, she died childless in 1913 in Auburn, N.Y., in
her early 90s. She never knew her birthday.
In her day, Tubman had her admirers and allies. John Brown,
the fierce abolitionist who launched an attack raid on an
arsenal in Harpers Ferry, called her "General Tubman."
Although she never returned to live free in Maryland, a
cluster of Rosses still reside in the flat terrain of
Dorchester County, not far from Bucktown.
Valerie Manokey, 71, is the oldest living family descendant.
She bears a striking resemblance to her famous relative and
offers an explanation for the blackouts that bedeviled the
abolitionist after she was struck in the head as a girl by a
white overseer.
"She had God leading the way. When she fell asleep [blacked
out], that was God saying, 'Harriet, you need a rest.' That's
what I told my children," Manokey said in an interview at a
diner in Cambridge. Also at the table were Manokey's sisters
Peggy Ross and Betty Lue Ross, and their niece Hawkins, who
sat with her 2-year-old daughter, Maya.
Darline Ross Rogers, another keeper of family memories, said
Tubman was a superior slingshot shooter and often killed
muskrats for group suppers - a dish the family enjoys to this
day.
Tubman's relatives continue to draw from and share inspiration
from her life story: spirituals sung to warn slaves of
approaching danger, quilts containing coded messages hung in
Quaker safe houses, how she learned from her father to
navigate by the North Star.
Said Rogers: "Things happen when humble people dare to dream."
jamie.stiehm@baltsun.com
General Harriet Tubman by Earl Conrad
Queen Victoria
Awards Harriet Tubman
The Diamond
Jubilee Medal
In April 1897 the
suffragists of Boston gave a benefit party for Harriet at
the Woman’s Journal parlors. An account in that
newspaper says that “…Mr. F.J. Garrison planned the
reception, Mrs. Edna Dow Cheney presided, and the survivors
of the old abolitionists in this vicinity, with the children
of those who have passed on, gathered to do Harriet
honor….Mrs. Frances E. Harper also was present.” Harriet’s
visit to Boston was also noted in the Woman’s Journal
of April 17, 1897, under the “Concerning Women” column:
“She has no pension, although her services during the war
were worth hundreds of men to the government….”
If the Government
was slow to recognize her, the British Queen Victoria
full well realized Harriet’s significance. A copy of the
Sarah H. Bradford biography had been sent to the Queen and
it had been read to her. The Queen sent a Diamond Jubilee
medal to Harriet and invited her to come to England. Harriet
said of this incident, “It was when the Queen had been on
the throne 60 years, she sent me the medal. It was a silver
medal, about the size of a dollar. It showed the Queen and
her family.” The letter she received with the medal “was
worn to a shadow, so many people read it.” 24 (pg.
215)
Clarke,
James B.: An Hour with Harriet Tubman, passim. The contact
of Harriet and the British Queen has been verified by others
then and now living, including Mrs. Tatlock, Mrs. Carter and
Mrs. Carroll Johnson, of 64 Garrow Street, Auburn, N.Y.
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