Katie Jill Herchenroeder

Previously published by The Campus

“When I found I had crossed that line, I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person. There was such a glory over everything; the sun came like gold through trees, and over the fields, and I felt like I was in Heaven,” spoke Harriet Tubman, revolutionary, orator, and inspiration.

After fleeing the south in 1849, Harriet Tubman, born Araminta “Minty” Ross, returned nearly 20 times and guided over 300 slaves away from their captors and into a more free environment. Slavery, she coined, “is the next thing to hell,” and an ever-present reality that she spent her whole life fighting with freedom.

Throughout The Civil War, Tubman served as a nurse, cook, laundress, spy, and scout. Subsequently, she continued to advocate for basic human rights. She raised money, through her garden and donations, to open schools for African Americans, and fulfill her dream of creating a home for the elderly.

Below you will see a QR Code that can be found at the crossing of 122nd Street, Frederick Douglas Boulevard, St Nicholas Avenue, and Harriet Tubman Square. At this junction lives the 13 foot tall statue that commemorates the life and love of Harriet Tubman. This art depicts Tubman emerging strongly from the roots of slavery, and features engravings in her skirt that represent the many people she helped escape.

This Black History Month, and every single day surrounding it, it aids us well to look back on an endlessly strong and resilient individual who lived her defiance for inequality, strove in the face of injustice, and cared until her last breathe.

Design by Carmen Quang