Harriet Tubman is known to all as a conductor of the Underground Railroad who led hundreds of enslaved people to freedom. It is for this legacy that her stoic, weathered face was elected by popular vote to grace the $20 bill in 2020. (However, the Treasury Secretary may not go forward with this decision made during the Obama Administration, an infuriating announcement you can read more about here.)
Her extraordinary life, far-reaching actions, and immeasurable impact on those she knew have elevated her to a myth-like status in American history. But Harriet was a real, flesh-and-blood woman who spent her life fighting for a better life for African Americans. To understand her life in full, here are five important things to know about Harriet Tubman:
Harriet Tubman is known to all as a conductor of the Underground Railroad who led hundreds of enslaved people to freedom. It is for this legacy that her stoic, weathered face was elected by popular vote to grace the $20 bill in 2020. (However, the Treasury Secretary may not go forward with this decision made during the Obama Administration, an infuriating announcement you can read more about here.)
Her extraordinary life, far-reaching actions, and immeasurable impact on those she knew have elevated her to a myth-like status in American history. But Harriet was a real, flesh-and-blood woman who spent her life fighting for a better life for African Americans. To understand her life in full, here are five important things to know about Harriet Tubman:
1. Harriet Tubman wasn’t always, well, Harriet Tubman. She went by an assortment of names and nicknames, each denoting a different stage of her life and what she represented to her fellow African Americans. Born Araminta “Minty” Ross, she changed her name to Harriet Tubman after marrying John Tubman. (Her choice of first name is possibly in homage to her mother.) As a leader of the enslaved to freedom, she was the Moses of Her People. As a pre-war abolitionist, she was General Tubman. As a nurse in the Civil War, she was Black Moses. As an outspoken suffragist, she was Mother Tubman. And in her post-war years, she was, simply, Aunt Harriet.
2. In her tireless quest for black liberation, Harriet was an armed spy and scout for the Union during the Civil War. Her most notable accomplishment is her pivotal role in the Combahee River Raid. Under Colonel Montgomery, Harriet helped lead Union ships into the South Carolina harbor through mine-filled waters. Once they arrived, Union soldiers stole Confederate supplies and set fire to plantations. Amidst this chaos, 750 enslaved were freed and carried to the North in Union ships. The Moses of Her People once again led the slaves out of Egypt.
3. Post-war, Harriet used her seemingly boundless energy to support women’s suffrage. She was a member of the National Women’s Suffrage Association, founded by famous suffragette Susan B. Anthony, a fugitive slave harborer for the Underground Railroad and a wartime abolitionist. Later, put off by the racism of Southern suffragettes who were not inclusive of black women, she joined the National Association of Colored Women, where she was the keynote speaker at their inaugural meeting (as well as the oldest woman in attendance).
4. Always looking for ways to help others, Harriet long dreamed of opening a house for elderly and disabled blacks. Even after her own home caught fire (and she and her second husband, Nelson Charles Davis, rebuilt it literally brick by brick, as he was a brick-maker), Harriet was intent on seeing her dream realized. After years of mortgages, reconstruction, and debt, the Harriet Tubman Home for Aged and Infirmed Negroes (later shortened to the Harriet Tubman Home) opened in 1908.
5. After everything she had done for the Union, from spying and scouting to nursing and cooking, Harriet was never paid for her work in the War. Deeply unsatisfied with this injustice, Harriet spent the remainder of her life arguing for full compensation. It wasn’t until 2003 that the government corrected its wrongdoing when Hillary Clinton introduced a bill to pay Harriet’s pension, a total of $11,750, to the Harriet Tubman Home.
This December, we will be releasing our newest book, Harriet Tubman For Beginners by Annette Alston and illustrated by Lynsey Hutchinson. Alston delves into Tubman’s achievements, hardships, and faith while Hutchinson’s artwork punctuates the pages. Follow this blog to learn more about Harriet’s life and legacy.
