“In my mind, I see a line. And over that line, I see green fields and lovely flowers and beautiful white women with their arms stretched out to me over that line, but I can’t seem to get there no-how. I can't seem to get over that line.” -- American freedom fighter and abolitionist Harriet Tubman (3 / ? / 1822 - 3/10/1913), who is celebrated today with Harriet Tubman Day. Following her escape from slavery in Maryland in 1849, Tubman rescued enslaved people throughout the 1850s, using what became known as the "Underground Railroad," a network of abolitionist safe houses and hideouts that facilitated their movement to freedom. With the despicable Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, transit even in northern States was made more perilous, as it required local law enforcement officials to assist slave hunters in tracking down escaped enslaved people. During the Civil War, Tubman served as a nurse and scout for the Union Army, and decades later advocated for women's suffrage.
Tubman finally made it over that "line" that she saw in her mind, if only to reach an imperfect place where discrimination would still sting for the rest of her life. Her heroism and devotion to freedom stands out for Women's History Month, and is a reminder that the cause of freedom remains under assault.
(National Park Service photo / Pollock)
