Inspirer Spotlight: Harriet Tubman - Liberator and Outdoors Woman

Harriet Tubman - Liberator and Outdoors Woman

Abolitionist, suffragist, Underground Railroad “conductor” and naturalist, Harriet Tubman was simply extraordinary: a skilled and fearless force. At about age 27, she courageously escaped slavery in Maryland navigating through fields and woodlands and across waterways North, to gain her freedom in 1849 Philadelphia. Her bravery and acumen seem only to be matched by her commitment to a higher calling. Utilizing the Underground Railroad’s network of people offering shelter to escaped slaves, Tubman continued for more than a decade, at grave risk, returning South to guide 75-100 enslaved people North, including her family and friends, so they too would have liberty. After the Fugitive Slave Act passed, Tubman traversed as far as Canada to liberate her freedom seekers, and she earned the nickname “Moses of her people.” To fund her trips, she worked some summers at resorts in Cape May, New Jersey, where many abolitionists gathered and shared information. Tubman was never captured nor were any of her “passengers.”

“God’s time is always near. He set the North Star in the heavens; He gave me the strength in my limbs; He meant I should be free.”  —Harriet Tubman

Tubman’s keen abilities took root in her youth. Enslaved, she was forced into domestic work and also labored outdoors doing fieldwork, logging, driving oxen, and traversing the woods to find and gather muskrat traps. Here, Tubman learned to observe nature’s cues which helped her lead the groups to their destinations safely. “Her ability to be in nature was a matter of life and death, for her and the people she was leading to freedom,” says historian Alan Spears. To avoid capture, Tubman would guide groups in the winter, when nights were longer, and detractors were more likely to be inside their warm homes. Although she never learned to read or write, Tubman read the stars to navigate North, learned to read nature’s signals for weather forecast and trail guidance, knew what plants to forage, and mimicked owl calls to communicate along “The Railroad” so her groups would not be discovered. She accomplished all of this even though as a young girl through to the end of her long life, she suffered pain and seizures due to a traumatic head injury.

It’s not surprising that Tubman’s endurance and intelligence made her a perfect candidate for the Union Army. She filled a crucial role guiding troops through the woods and passages she had learned so well. She became an armed scout, spy and nurse for the North, and the first woman to lead an armed military raid (1863) which in turn, freed approximately 700 slaves. After the Civil War, she continued serving others until her death in 1913, tirelessly working for women’s rights and human rights, helping the needy, elderly and others.

—Hillary Black, Editor

For additional resources, visit FFG’s Resources page [HERE].