Harriet Tubman, Conductor on the Railroad
1 Harriet Tubman was born a slave. In the year 1849, she ran away from a plantation in Maryland. She wanted to be free. She made her way to Philadelphia, where she became free and got a job as a cook. She could have stayed there safely, but she didn’t. She went south again. She wanted to
bring her family to be near her. Then she returned again and again to lead others to freedom. She became a conductor on the Underground Railroad.
2 Harriet Tubman was a small woman, but she was strong from years of hard work. She also had enormous courage. She could not read and write,
so she kept no record of her journeys. We know about her from interviews and from the stories of others.
3 We know that she liked to make the trip in the winter and at night. The long winter nights meant more hours to travel. During the day, Tubman and her followers rested and tried to stay hidden.
4 People said she was a great actress. She often changed the way she looked. She might pretend to be an elderly woman, or even a man. Sometimes
she wore a big hat to cover her face.
5 Once, she was near the place where she grew up. She was afraid of being identified, so she carried chickens. She saw a former slave master coming toward her, so she pulled on strings around the chickens’ legs. The chickens flapped their wings and made noise. She escaped in the confusion.
6 Anyone who started out with her had to finish the trip. She told her followers that a slave who went back might be forced to tell about hiding
places, and her work would end.
7 Harriet Tubman led her parents to freedom. She bought a farm in New York just before the Civil War and lived there with them. During the Civil War, she was a scout and spy for the Union Army. She also served as a nurse and a guide.
8 After the Civil War, she took in orphans and elderly people. Her farm
became the Harriet Tubman Home for the old Aged. She lived there until she died.
