CBS Sunday Morning (October 20, 2019) feature the remarkable journey of Harriet Tubman. Next month Cynthia Erivo will play her in the movie titled “Harriet”. But to Judith Bryant (below) she was her great great great Aunt.
She was small in stature but larger than real life; there are two National Parks dedicated to her story. She was separated from her parents at a young age. When she was 13, she was hit in the head with a 2-pound weight that was intended for a young runaway boy. As a result, she suffered from sudden epileptic seizures and visions for the rest of her life.
In 1849 she escaped from a place called Poplar Neck in Caroline County Maryland when she heard she was going to be sold. Along and on foot she traveled over one hundred miles to the Pennsylvania border.
While most would have settled for their freedom, but she traveled 13 times over 10 years to free others. As a results more than 70 people were freed from bondage. During the Civil War she became the first woman to lead troops into battle and liberated 750 enslaved people in the Combahee Ferry Raid.
Her friends included people like Fredrick Douglass, John Brown, and Susan B. Anthony. William Henry Steward, United States President Abraham Lincolns, Secretary of State even sold her seven acres of land.
Over time the curtail was been drawn back to highlight many American heroes that didn’t make the history books and hopefully many more will be revealed.
H.G.M.
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