The Tubman Talk

TANNERSVILLE - A different kind of bravery was exhibited by petite Harriet Tubman, a conductor on the Underground Railroad who is the subject of a historical talk September 28, at 10 a.m., at the Mountaintop Arboretum.

University at Albany professor Janell Hobson is the presenter, sharing aspects of Tubman’s life commonly known and unknown.

There was nothing common about Tubman, a five-foot tall woman who rose above the vulgarities of 19th Century slavery in America, changing the course of history in secret and in-your-face.

She led hundreds of enslaved people to freedom during a time when it was illegal and literally life-threatening, armed with resolute purpose and, if the need arrived, a revolver.

Tubman did that and incredibly more in a murky era when Black lives were treated as if they didn’t matter (and less than that), a concept and reality this woman born as Araminta Ross utterly refused to accept.

“I have always been fascinated by Harriet,” says Jennifer Hemmerlein, the Mountaintop Arboretum executive director, telling why she reached out to Professor Hobson.

“When I was younger, I thought ‘This lady is so brave.’ I remember, as a little kid, taking a school trip to the Tubman museum.

“When I came to the Arboretum, last June, I inherited a strategic plan to diversity our programming,” Hammerlein says.

“We had a lot of horticulture programs. We wanted to offer more diverse voices and histories. There is an interest in presenters of indigenous programming on the mountaintop.

“There are so many important voices to be heard. Harriet Tubman’s role in the Underground Railroad has been explored, and enough cannot be said about what she did,” Hammerlein says

“Something that has not been explored is her skill as a naturalist. I thought this would be a good, new perspective on her.”

Which is where Professor Hobson enters the picture, saying. “Harriet Tubman is a larger than life figure in our culture.

“This is true not just in terms of our country’s history. She is in our national memory. She is also a current representative, talked about in Hip Hop.

“I became deeply connected to Harriet Tubman when I was organizing her centennial anniversary at the University, marking her passing,” Professor Hobson says.

Tubman died on March 10, 1913. Her birth is less pinpointed, born into slavery, suffering a severe head injury at the hands of her enslavers, afterwards experiencing unusual visions and vivid dreams.

She interpreted the visions and dreams as premonitions from the Almighty, becoming religiously devoted to Him and her kindred spirits here, as well.

Escaping slavery, she made multiple journeys from freedom back to the terrifying terrain of her own enslavement, leading scores of folks to the earthly Promised Land.

Tubman, not content with those amazingly courageous efforts (undertaken in the dangerous shadows of the Fugitive Slave Law), also aligned herself with and shared the aspirations of John Brown.

She helped plan and recruit supporters for Brown’s ill-fated, 18959 anti-slavery raid on Harpers Ferry, getting the nickname General Tubman, lighting a spark that would engulf the nation in the Civil War

Tubman was no less active in wartime, serving as a Union Army nurse and cook and eventually an armed scout and spy, lauded as the first woman ever to lead an armed military operation for the red-white-and-blue.

She crossed paths with the similarly heroic Sojourner Truth and the likes of Susan B. Anthony, entwining herself in the women's suffrage movement.

Tubman quietly retired to the family home she had purchased in Auburn, New York, the site of her grave and the Museum in her honor.

In what many consider a long overdue tribute, the campaign to place Tubman on U.S. currency is slated to be actualized by 2030.

“This is particularly appropriate,” Hobson says. “A statue is one thing. It was felt we should have a woman on something deeply in our culture, an everyday item.

“Harriet Tubman was chosen among other extremely deserving women to be on the $20 bill, replacing pro-slavery Andrew Jackson. The number correlates with the passing of the 19th Amendment, in 1920, granting women the right to vote,” Hobson says.

In the moments before she died, Tubman quoted the biblical Gospel of John to those by her beside: “I go away to prepare a place for you.” 

Tubman lived in that same spirit. “I think it is fascinating, especially in those harsh times, that she opened her home to those who needed refuge,” Hobson says.

“She grew an entire orchard on her own land. She loved strawberries and apples,” living to the fruitful age of 91.