The photograph that is depicted in this blog is that of Harriet Tubman, a former slave and leader of the Underground Railroad. Harriet Tubman has generated much attention in the construction and dedication of a monument in her honor in the town of Cambridge, Maryland where she lived. Many famous politicians did attend this event in honor of her death, one hundred years ago and her role in the Underground Railroad. She lead over four hundred slaves to freedom into Canada.
She was a feisty woman who carried a gun in escorting slaves but threatened to shoot any slave that became cowardly and attempted to return to the plantation and their slave owner. If a slave wished to escape, this individual would, in the dark of night, sing the song, “Swing Low Sweet Chariot” and would immediately be taken on the Underground Railroad.
The state of Maryland offered a $40,000 reward for Harriet’s head. Ironically, Harriet escaped slavery through this Underground Railroad.
Harriet was born into slavery and was brutally beaten as a child and bore bodily scars of this brutality all of her life. She was described as a disabled person due to a condition called Narcolepsy ( sleeping spells) which was caused by a severe blow to her head by a slave owner using a two pound weight when she was twelve years old.
Harriet was so proud of her involvement in the Underground Railroad and declared, ” I am a conductor of the Underground Railroad for over eight years and I have never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger.” Another example of Harriet’s feisty behavior was a report of her neuro-surgical procedure to correct her Narcolepsy. She refused anesthesia and chose to bite on a bullet just like the soldiers that she nursed when they had amputation procedures.
Harriet “bit the bullet” throughout her life because she was born into this world as a negro, having an undesirable skin pigmention.
My next blog will present another biography of Fredrick Douglas, who did know Harriet Tubman and crossed paths in the Underground Railroad.
This blog site’s address is labeled “What are you feeling?” Please do let your voice be heard about your feelings!
Dr. Fran White Wants to Know What You Are Feeling? 