[Eoscstudents] Black History Awareness

[Levenia Carey]

Hello Everyone:

Today we want to begin looking at the pioneers in Black History.  Our 
first person is Harriet Ross Tubman (1821-1913).  Harriet was an 
underground railroad conductor.  Born in Dorchester County, Maryland to 
slave parents who name her Araminta, Tubman later took her mother's 
name, "Harriet."  She suffered recurrent seizures as a result of being 
struck on the head by an overseer when she went ot the defense of 
another slave.  She escaped in 1849 and made her way to Philadelphia 
after learning that she was destined to be sold.  After saving enough 
money to finance her trip, she returned to rescue her sister and her two 
children.  It was the first of 19 trips that would bring 300 slaves to 
freedom.  Tubman planned her escapes for Saturday nights, knowing that 
slaveowners would not be able to have wanted posters made up before 
Monday.  Her rules were simple:  Be on time, follow instructions; tell 
no one of the escape; and be prepared to die rather than turn back. 
People who saw her walking along back southern roads saw what they 
thought was an harmless old woman wandering along singing songs.  But 
the lyrics were a code alerting slaves to her presence, and Harriet 
Tubman was anything but harmless.  She usually carried a gun. 
Slaveowners considered her extremely dangerous and put a $40,000 price 
on her head.  Called "The Moses of Her People," Tubman worked closely 
with William Still and was a friend of Frederick Douglass.  She 
conferred with John Brown, though sickness prevented her from 
participating in the 1859 raid at Harpers Ferry.  That same year, she 
endured physical assault to rescue a runaway slave names Charles Nalle 
from police custody and helped him escape to Canada.  During the Civil 
War, she planned and led a raid that freed 750 slaves. She also worked 
for the army as a spy, scout, and nurse.  Afterward, Tubman attempted to 
establish schools for freedmen in North Carolina and later founded a 
home for destitute former slaves who were too old and feeble to work.  
In 1978, the U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp in her honor.


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