Harriet Tubman was born Araminta Ross around 1822 in Dorchester County, Maryland, one of nine children of enslaved parents Rit and Ben Ross. As a child she suffered a traumatic brain injury when an overseer threw a two-pound metal weight that hit her on the head — causing narcoleptic seizures and vivid dreams that she interpreted as messages from God. These would stay with her for the rest of her life.
In 1849, fearing she was about to be sold further south, Tubman escaped from slavery on her own, travelling nearly 90 miles on foot through treacherous terrain to Philadelphia and freedom. It was an extraordinary act of individual courage. But she did not stop there. She came back.
Over the next decade, Tubman made approximately 13 missions back into slave territory, using the network of safe houses known as the Underground Railroad to guide over 70 enslaved people to freedom, including her own parents. She was so successful that slaveholders offered rewards totalling $40,000 for her capture — equivalent to over $1 million today. She was never caught.
During the Civil War, Tubman served as a spy, scout and nurse for the Union Army. In June 1863, she led the Combahee River Raid — commanding 150 Black Union soldiers in a waterborne assault that liberated over 700 enslaved people in a single night. She was the first woman in American history to lead an armed military assault.
After the war, Tubman continued her activism. She campaigned for women's suffrage alongside Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, established a home for elderly Black people in Auburn, New York, and lived to see the 19th Amendment — giving women the right to vote — passed the year before her death in 1913.
- Escaped from slavery and returned 13 times to guide over 70 people to freedom
- First woman to lead an armed assault in American military history (Combahee River Raid, 1863)
- Liberated over 700 enslaved people in a single night during the Combahee River Raid
- Union Army spy, scout and nurse during the Civil War
- Never lost a single person on any of her Underground Railroad missions
- Campaigned alongside Susan B. Anthony for women's suffrage
- Her image selected for the US $20 bill — the first Black woman to be so honoured
- Freedom is not enough — go back for others.. Tubman could have stayed safe in Philadelphia. Instead she returned 13 times. True leadership means bringing others with you.
- Use your gifts, however they come.. Tubman's narcoleptic visions — a result of her injury — she interpreted as divine guidance. She used them. Use what you have.
- Fear is real but it is not final.. Every mission Tubman ran was terrifying. She ran them anyway. Courage is doing what must be done despite the fear.
- Never stop fighting.. After the Civil War, Tubman switched from the Underground Railroad to the suffrage movement. The cause of justice never ends.