By Kate Clifford Larson

Harriet Tubman was barely 5 feet tall and didn’t have a dime to her name.

What she did have was a deep faith and powerful passion for justice that was fueled by a network of Black and white abolitionists determined to end slavery in America.

“I had reasoned this out in my mind,” Tubman once told an interviewer. “There was one of two things I had a right to, liberty, or death. If I could not have one, I would have the other; for no man should take me alive.”

Though Tubman is most famous for her successes along the Underground Railroad, her activities as a Civil War spy are less well known.

As a biographer of Tubman, I think this is a shame. Her devotion to America and its promise of freedom endured despite suffering decades of enslavement and second class citizenship.

It is only in modern times that her life is receiving the renown it deserves, most notably her likeness appearing on a US$20 bill in 2030. The Harriet Tubman $20 bill will replace the current one featuring a portrait of U.S. President Andrew Jackson.

In another recognition, Tubman was accepted in June 2021 to the United States Army Military Intelligence Corps Hall of Fame at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. She is one of 278 members, 17 of whom are women, honored for their special operations leadership and intelligence work.

Though traditional accolades escaped Tubman for most of her life, she did achieve an honor usually reserved for white officers on the Civil War battlefield.

After she led a successful raid of a Confederate outpost in South Carolina that saw 750 Black people rescued from slavery, a white commanding officer fetched a pitcher of water for Tubman as she remained seated at a table.

A different education

Believed to have been born in March 1822 in Dorchester County, Maryland, Tubman was named Araminta by her enslaved parents, Rit and Ben Ross.

“Minty” was the fifth of nine Ross children. She was frequently separated from her family by her white enslaver, Edward Brodess, who started leasing her to white neighbors when she was just 6 years old.

At their hands, she endured physical abuse, harsh labor, poor nutrition and intense loneliness.

As I learned during my research into Tubman’s life, her education did not happen in a traditional classroom, but instead was crafted from the dirt. She learned to read the natural world – forests and fields, rivers and marshes, the clouds and stars.

She learned to walk silently across fields and through the woods at night with no lights to guide her. She foraged for food and learned a botanist’s and chemist’s knowledge of edible and poisonous plants – and those most useful for ingredients in medical treatments.

She could not swim, and that forced her to learn the ways of rivers and streams – their depths, currents and traps.

She studied people, learned their habits, watched their movements – all without being noticed. Most important, she also figured out how to distinguish character. Her survival depended on her ability to remember every detail.

After a brain injury left her with recurring seizures, she was still able to work at jobs often reserved for men. She toiled on the shipping docks and learned the secret communication and transportation networks of Black mariners.

Known as Black Jacks, these men traveled throughout the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic seaboard. With them, she studied the night sky and the placement and movement of the constellations.

She used all those skills to navigate on the water and land.

“… and I prayed to God,” she told one friend, “to make me strong and able to fight, and that’s what I’ve always prayed for ever since.”

Tubman was clear on her mission. “I should fight for my liberty,” she told an admirer, “as long as my strength lasted.”

The Moses of the Underground Railroad

In the fall of 1849, when she was about to be sold away from her family and free husband John Tubman, she fled Maryland to freedom in Philadelphia.

Between 1850 and 1860, she returned to the Eastern Shore of Maryland about 13 times and successfully rescued nearly 70 friends and family members, all of whom were enslaved. It was an extraordinary feat given the perils of the 1850 Slave Fugitive Act, which enabled anyone to capture and return any Black man or woman, regardless of legal status, to slavery.

Those leadership qualities and survival skills earned her the nickname “Moses” because of her work on the Underground Railroad, the interracial network of abolitionists who enabled Black people to escape from slavery in the South to freedom in the North and Canada.

As a result, she attracted influential abolitionists and politicians who were struck by her courage and resolve – men like William Lloyd Garrison, John Brown and Frederick Douglass. Susan B. Anthony, one of the world’s leading activists for women’s equal rights, also knew of Tubman, as did abolitionist Lucretia Mott and women’s rights activist Amy Post.

“I was the conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years,” Tubman once said. “and I can say what most conductors can’t say; I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger.”

Battlefield soldier

When the Civil War started in the spring of 1861, Tubman put aside her fight against slavery to conduct combat as a soldier and spy for the United States Army. She offered her services to a powerful politician.

Known for his campaign to form the all-Black 54th and 55th regiments, Massachusetts Gov. John Andrew admired Tubman and thought she would be a great intelligence asset for the Union forces.

He arranged for her to go to Beaufort, South Carolina, to work with Army officers in charge of the recently captured Hilton Head District.

There, she provided nursing care to soldiers and hundreds of newly liberated people who crowded Union camps. Tubman’s skill curing soldiers stricken by a variety of diseases became legendary.

But it was her military service of spying and scouting behind Confederate lines that earned her the highest praise.

She recruited eight men and together they skillfully infiltrated enemy territory. Tubman made contact with local enslaved people who secretly shared their knowledge of Confederate movements and plans.

Wary of white Union soldiers, many local African Americans trusted and respected Tubman.

According to George Garrison, a second lieutenant with the 55th Massachusetts Regiment, Tubman secured “more intelligence from them than anybody else.”

In early June 1863, she became the first woman in U.S. history to command an armed military raid when she guided Col. James Montgomery and his 2nd South Carolina Colored Volunteers Regiment along the Combahee River.

While there, they routed Confederate outposts, destroyed stores of cotton, food and weapons – and liberated over 750 enslaved people.

The Union victory was widely celebrated. Newspapers from Boston to Wisconsin reported on the river assault by Montgomery and his Black regiment, noting Tubman’s important role as the “Black she Moses … who led the raid, and under whose inspiration it was originated and conducted.”

Ten days after the successful attack, radical abolitionist and soldier Francis Jackson Merriam witnessed Maj. Gen. David Hunter, commander of the Hilton Head district, “go and fetch a pitcher of water and stand waiting with it in his hand while a black woman drank, as if he had been one of his own servants.”

In that letter to Gov. Andrew, Merriam added, “that woman was Harriet Tubman.”

Lifelong struggle

Despite earning commendations as a valuable scout and soldier, Tubman still faced the racism and sexism of America after the Civil War.

When she sought payment for her service as a spy, the U.S. Congress denied her claim. It paid the eight Black male scouts, but not her.

Unlike the Union officers who knew her, the congressmen did not believe – they could not imagine – that she had served her country like the men under her command, because she was a woman.

Gen. Rufus Saxton wrote that he bore “witness to the value of her services… She was employed in the Hospitals and as a spy [and] made many a raid inside the enemy’s lines displaying remarkable courage, zeal and fidelity.”

Thirty years later, in 1899, Congress awarded her a pension for her service as a Civil War nurse, but not as a soldier spy.

When she died from pneumonia on March 10, 1913, she was believed to have been 91 years old and had been fighting for gender equality and the right to vote as a free Black woman for more than 50 years after her work during the Civil War.

Surrounded by friends and family, the deeply religious Tubman showed one last sign of leadership, telling them: “I go to prepare a place for you.”

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Kate Clifford Larson, Brandeis University

Read more:

• Harriet Tubman: Biden revives plan to put a Black woman of faith on the bill
• Faith made Harriet Tubman fearless as she rescued slaves
• Harriet Tubman film does not deserve the Twitter hate

Kate Clifford Larson received funding from the National Park Service and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and Department of Tourism 

Feature Image: A portrait of Harriet Tubman in 1878.
Library of Congress/Getty Images

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WHAT: For the thousands who self-liberated on the Underground Railroad, music was a key to freedom. Now, those songs from the 19^th century are coming to life. The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is hosting American Roots: Songs of the Underground Railroad, a Summermusik concert featuring songs from that era as well as 20^th– and 21^st-century pieces from Black composers. The concert is Saturday, Sept. 7 at the Freedom Center and limited tickets are still available.

The American Roots: Songs of the Underground Railroad concert explores the history of the Underground Railroad and the spirituals and other traditional Black folk songs that gave hope to those seeking freedom. For the first time, the program will be presented live and will feature Ann Hagedorn, historian and author of Beyond the River: The Untold Story of the Heroes of the Underground Railroad; soprano Victoria Ellington and the Summermusik String Quartet.

The concert will follow a reception and gallery talk at 6:30 p.m. with the concert itself beginning at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $35 for Freedom Center Members and $40 for general admission.

WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 7

• 6:30 p.m. Reception
• 6:45 p.m. Gallery talk opportunity
• 7:30 p.m. Performance

WHERE: National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, 50 E. Freedom Way, Cincinnati OH 45202

The post Underground railroad music comes alive again appeared first on The Cincinnati Herald .

By Sean E. Andres 

research support 

from Queens of Queen City

Born enslaved in Charleston, South Carolina, to Rufus and Judith Mayrant on June 26, 1826, Sarah was a “noble, lovable character.” As a young girl, Sarah was sent to New Orleans. There, she studied under a French hair specialist the art of hair and scalp treatment and hair goods manufacturing and application.

In the 1840s, Cincinnatian Abraham Evan Gwynne brought Sarah to Cincinnati around the time of his daughter Alice Claypool Gwynne’s birth. Alice, Gloria Vanderbilt’s grandmother and Anderson Cooper’s great-grandmother, would later build her own dynasty.

This is Sarah’s story. Through the Gwynne family’s influence and connections (including the Storers), Sarah networked to build her own hair salon empire for the rich as the best hair stylist in Cincinnati.

A Legacy of Abolitionism

On Sept. 28. 1854, Sarah, 28, married a 39-year old White washer and caterer by the name of Peter Farley Fossett, who had been born into enslavement at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, along with his entire family. They were true equals in marriage and equals as business operators, having separate finances. Sarah never learned to read like her husband had in his youth enslaved by Jefferson. That never stopped her from being an absolute success, but Peter taught her to read and write over the years, which would only make her more successful.

Peter and Sarah, living at 46 Race St. in Mary Liverpool’s tenement, were closely associated with Levi Coffin and others in the underground railroad. Peter served as one of Coffin’s lieutenants, being a stop for runaways before sending them to his home.

Sarah and Peter lived and worked under dire and dangerous circumstances, especially as Black people who didn’t have the luxury of simply paying a fine like White people would for harboring fugitive slaves. 

The couple attended church at Baker Street, now called Union Baptist Church. There, Peter served as clerk and trustee. He surveyed and bought the land for the church cemetery on the west side, which is now known as the Union Baptist Cemetery, where they both are buried.

Integrating the Streetcar

One day Sarah was late to an appointment to fix the hair for a bride’s wedding and decided to take the Third street line streetcar to get there faster. When it stopped near the Burnet House, and a White woman stepped off. Sarah tried ascending onto the platform but was stopped by the conductor. He tried to push her off, but she held onto the rails as the horses kept moving on.

Sarah gripped tightly, fearing of falling  while in motion, while the conductor battered her hands to remove her. She tried to bite his knuckles as he tried to pry her hands off.

Eventually, after three blocks, she let go, suffering injuries, and was laid up for three days. Sarah sued the PRC, claiming $1,000 in damages. The PRC claimed Sarah never got on the platform (so they aren’t responsible for injury on their property) and claimed that the car was already in motion when she jumped to hold onto the rails. She didn’t receive the $1,000. However, she did receive $65 for being refused passage.

As a result of the case, Black women and children were legally allowed to ride inside, while Black men could ride outside on the platform. Two years later, that law was used in Isaac Young’s case against the Cincinnati Streetcar Company, where the judge ruled that the company went against city law by denying her passage.

Judge Bellamy Storer, who knew her and her integrity through his former law partner Abraham Gwynne, made it clear that all persons, regardless of color and sex, were to be permitted on streetcars, unless they are drunk, are a criminal or are suspected of crime.

First Baptist Church of Cumminsville

The Fossetts organized a new church, First Baptist Church of Cumminsville in 1879, a new branch of the Baker Street Union Baptist Church. They slowly moved into the church living quarters at 15 Stone. During this time, Peter and Sarah paid off the church debt and accumulated interest.    

Sarah was a pillar and esteemed member of the community. In addition to being a faith and community leader, she began volunteering for the new Orphan Asylum for Colored Youth. Eventually, the board of the Colored Orphan Asylum elected her to be manager, and she served as such for the rest of her life. 

Check out the Urban Roots podcast’s “South Cumminsville: For the Love of the Neighborhood” episode on Apple, Spotify or YouTube to listen to South Cumminsville residents share stories of the neighborhood’s past and present and hear S.E. Andres (author of this article) dive into Sarah Fossett’s story.

The post Cincinnati’s hair salon empress: Sarah Fossett’s inspiring legacy appeared first on The Cincinnati Herald .

By Christopher J. Miller

Sr. Director of Education.

Community Engagement

National Underground Railroad Freedom Center

September is International Underground Railroad Month.

This proclamation began in the State of Maryland in 2019, and now more than 11 states officially celebrate one of the most significant eras in U.S. history. With the signing of Ohio HB 340 in June 2022, Ohio became the 12^th state to designate September International Underground Railroad Month.

Many history enthusiasts and scholars hope the momentum of the proclamation spreads to other states so that all our forebears of freedom are remembered.

Examining this era, you find that the Ohio River Valley is instrumental in the many narratives of freedom seekers. These stories are critical to our understanding of race relations and civic responsibilities.

Before the Civil War, many communities in the Ohio River Valley were part of an elaborate system that provided resources and protection for enslaved persons from Southern states on their journey to freedom. Once slaves crossed the Ohio River, they traveled along unknown terrain of trails to safe houses and hiding places that would become known as the Underground Railroad.

The Underground Railroad was made up of courageous people who were held to a higher law that confronted the institution of slavery with acts of civil disobedience by helping freedom seekers elude enslavers and slave hunters and help them get to Canada.

Many communities were a force for freedom along the more than 900-mile stretch of the Ohio River Valley, but I would like to focus on two significant communities.

Southern Indiana was a major part of this history. It was originally believed that there were [trails] from Posey to South Bend, Corydon to Porter, and Madison to DeKalb County, with many stops in between.

In further examination, the Underground Railroad in Indiana was a web of trails through the forests, swamps, briars and dirt roads. The city that is often overlooked in reflecting on the history of the Underground Railroad is New Albany, Indiana.

By 1850, New Albany was the largest city in Indiana, with a population of 8,632. Free Blacks accounted for 502 of that population. Across the river, Louisville was Kentucky’s largest city, with a population of 42,829. A quarter of the 6,687 Black population were free in Louisville.

Louisville and New Albany would grow to become a significant region for Underground Railroad activity. People like Henson McIntosh became a prominent community member and major Underground Railroad conductor. McIntosh was one of approximately 10 Underground Railroad agents in New Albany who used their wealth and influence to impact the lives of freedom seekers crossing the Ohio River.

The Carnegie Center for Art & History is an outstanding resource that continues to preserve New Albany’s role during the Underground Railroad era. 

Approximately 104 miles east along the Ohio River is another institution that plays a critical role in elevating the profile of the Underground Railroad on a national scope.

The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is located on the banks of the Ohio River in Cincinnati.  

By 1850, Cincinnati would grow to be the sixth largest city in the Union, with a sizable Black population.

The Freedom Center is prominently located in the heart of a historic Black community called Little Africa. Although the community no longer exists, its legacy lives on through the Freedom Center.

As with New Albany, the community that resided along the banks of the river served an important role in the story of the Underground Railroad. Little Africa was the gateway to freedom for thousands of freedom seekers escaping slavery.

Although there were Underground Railroad networks throughout the country, Ohio had the most active network of any other state, with approximately 3,000 miles of routes used by an estimated 40,000 freedom seekers that crossed through Little Africa.

Despite the growth of enslavement leading up to the Civil War, communities such as Little Africa and New Albany reveal the realities regarding race relations and a model for the dignity of human life through their respective efforts to be kind and resilient friends for the freedom seekers.

For more information:

National Underground Railroad Freedom Center – https://freedomcenter.org/

Cincinnati Tourism – https://www.visitcincy.com/

Carnegie Center for Art & History – https://carnegiecenter.org/

Southern Indiana Tourism – https://www.gosoin.com/

The post Celebrate international Underground Railroad Month: exploring the Ohio River Valley’s role in freedom appeared first on The Cincinnati Herald .

Woodrow Keown, Jr.

Freedom Center

President/CEO

On June 14, we celebrated the signing of House Bill 340, designating September as International Underground Railroad Month. We applaud the efforts of Representatives Adam Bird and Willis Blackshear who co-sponsored this bill and have been working with their colleagues and supporters across the state to bring this bill to fruition. We thank Governor Mike DeWine for signing this significant bill into law. This is a historic moment, recognizing the ongoing legacy of the Underground Railroad and Ohio’s prominent role in the liberation of enslaved people.

The Underground Railroad was the nation’s first social justice movement and Ohio was a pivotal state on the long road to liberation. Towns across the state – from Cincinnati to Sandusky, Ripley to Zanesville, Greenville to Massillon – provided refuge and safe passage to those self-liberating through the Underground Railroad.

Conductors in towns and homes along the Ohio River greeted passengers as they took their first steps on free soil. Through the courage and cooperation of strangers, enslaved people persevered through the trails and wilderness of southern Ohio. Ohio conductors and abolitionists risked their lives to provide shelter to exhausted, freezing families making the long journey to freedom. They took food from their pantries and fields to feed starving freedom seekers who risked their lives to breathe free.

These principles of courage, cooperation and perseverance were the founding principles of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, established to preserve and share the stories of the Underground Railroad. As millions across the country are struggling to self-liberate from various forms of unfreedom, these principles are just as critical today. Each September will be a reminder that we must all be conductors, carrying on the legacy of those intrepid freedom seekers and conductors of the Underground Railroad. Each International Underground Railroad Month will inspire us to tap our own courage to pursue what’s right; to extend a hand to those different from us, to those in need; to persevere until we are all free.

The Underground Railroad is not a moment in history. It is an ongoing source of inspiration to freedom seekers around the world.

The post September designated as International Underground Railroad Month in Ohio appeared first on The Cincinnati Herald .

Her story hidden in secrecy no more, The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati (TCT) presents HARRIET TUBMAN: STRAIGHT UP OUTTA THE UNDERGROUND. 

​​​​Bring the past to the present and change the future with this one-woman interactive storytelling experience. Uncover the painful truth about America’s 200-year-old struggle with slavery when you play a part in this historic retelling. On this journey, audiences will follow Harriet Tubman, the most recognized conductor of the Underground Railroad. Nicknamed “Moses,” Harriet Tubman lived up to this name by gaining her own freedom, as well as traveling back and forth from North to South more than 19 times and freeing 300 slaves!

The Children’s Theater will bring the story of Harriett Tubman to life on stage. This show is most enjoyed by those in grades 3-8 as well as adults and will be presented on the Ralph and Patricia Corbett Showtime Stage, 4015 Red Bank Road, Cincinnati, OH  45227. Only 152 seats are available for each performance. A question-and-answer session follows every show.  

Performances will be held:

• Saturday, March 14 at 2 PM and 5 PM
• Sunday, March 15 at 2 PM

Tickets to each production are $10 each (plus service fees) and are available exclusively through ticketmaster.com or by visiting TCT’s Red Bank Road Ticket Office, M-F, 9am-6pm. Mainstage subscribers pay just $7 per ticket – a savings of $3. Tickets available now.

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