Statue of Harriet Tubman | |
---|---|
Artist | Jane DeDecker |
Year | 2006 |
Type | bronze |
Location | Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA |
42°14′26″N83°36′56″W / 42.24062°N 83.61552°W |
A statue of Harriet Tubman created by artist Jane DeDecker [1] honors the life of abolitionist Harriet Tubman. The bronze statue depicts Tubman walking and holding the hand of a young boy.
There are several installations of identical copies of the statue, in Ypsilanti, Michigan, in Little Rock, Arkansas, in Gainesville, Georgia, and in Mesa, Arizona.
The statue was made in an edition of seven. Critics have noted that the statue's expression suggests Tubman's "gentle caring manner and generosity." [2]
The statue in Ypsilanti, Michigan, was unveiled on 21 May, 2006, as part of a redevelopment of a plaza adjacent to the Ypsilanti District Library. [3] Two years later, the library board added a plaque to the statue describing Tubman's life and achievements as a response to local queries about the statue; the original plaque was located at the base of the rear of the statue in an area difficult to read easily. [4] The plaque and statue commemorate Ypsilanti's connection to the Underground Railroad. [5]
The one in Little Rock, Arkansas, was originally placed in Little Rock's Riverfront Park; however, during the construction of the Game and Fish Nature Center in the park it was relocated to the entrance of Clinton Presidential Center [6] as part of a series of six pieces of art lining a walkway from the downtown area of Little Rock to the Presidential Center. [7]
The one in Gainesville, Georgia, is located at the entrance to Thurmond–McRae Lecture Hall on the campus of Brenau University. [8] Its installation was the first instance of an educational institution in the southern United States honoring Tubman in such a visible way. [9] A further identical statue is located on the campus of Brenau University in Gainesville, Georgia.
The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and from there to Canada. The network, primarily the work of free African Americans, was assisted by abolitionists and others sympathetic to the cause of the escapees. The slaves who risked capture and those who aided them are also collectively referred to as the passengers and conductors of the Railroad, respectively. Various other routes led to Mexico, where slavery had been abolished, and to islands in the Caribbean that were not part of the slave trade. An earlier escape route running south toward Florida, then a Spanish possession, existed from the late 17th century until approximately 1790. However, the network generally known as the Underground Railroad began in the late 18th century. It ran north and grew steadily until the Emancipation Proclamation was signed by President Abraham Lincoln. One estimate suggests that, by 1850, approximately 100,000 slaves had escaped to freedom via the network.
Harriet Tubman was an American abolitionist and social activist. After escaping slavery, Tubman made some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 enslaved people, including her family and friends, using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known collectively as the Underground Railroad. During the American Civil War, she served as an armed scout and spy for the Union Army. In her later years, Tubman was an activist in the movement for women's suffrage.
The Joint Committee on the Library is a Joint Committee of the United States Congress devoted to the affairs and administration of the Library of Congress, which is the library of the federal legislature. There are five members of each house on the committee. It has no subcommittees.
Brenau University is a private university with its historic campus in Gainesville, Georgia. Founded in 1878, the university enrolls more than 2,800 students from approximately 48 states and 17 foreign countries who seek degrees ranging from associate through doctoral degrees. The main campus of the Georgia-based institution includes the Brenau Women's College. Brenau also offers another location in Norcross, Georgia.
Erastus Hussey (1800–1889) was a leading abolitionist, a stationmaster on the Underground Railroad, and one of the founders of the Republican Party. He supported himself and his family as a farmer, teacher, businessman, legislator, and editor.
Songs of the Underground Railroad were spiritual and work songs used during the early-to-mid 19th century in the United States to encourage and convey coded information to escaping slaves as they moved along the various Underground Railroad routes. As it was illegal in most slave states to teach slaves to read or write, songs were used to communicate messages and directions about when, where, and how to escape, and warned of dangers and obstacles along the route.
Freedom Crossing Monument is located on the bank of the Niagara River in Lewiston, New York, and honors the courage of fugitive slaves who sought a new life of freedom in Canada, and to the local volunteers who protected and helped them on their journey across the Niagara River. It was dedicated on October 14, 2009.
Harriet Tubman Square is a city square in Downtown Newark, New Jersey.
The Harriet Tubman Memorial, also known as Swing Low, located in Manhattan in New York City, honors the life of abolitionist Harriet Tubman. The intersection at which it stands was previously a barren traffic island, and is now known as "Harriet Tubman Triangle". As part of its redevelopment, the traffic island was landscaped with plants native to New York and to Tubman's home state of Maryland, representing the land which she and her Underground Railroad passengers travelled across.
The Harriet Tubman Memorial, also known as Step on Board, is located in Harriet Tubman Park in the South End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It honours the life of abolitionist Harriet Tubman. It was the first memorial erected in Boston to a woman on city-owned property.
Harriet Tubman Day is an American holiday in honor of the anti-slavery activist Harriet Tubman, observed on March 10, and in the U.S. state of New York. Observances also occur locally around the U.S. state of Maryland. After Juneteenth became a federal holiday, there are growing calls for this day to also be observed at the federal level.
Raymond S. Lane, Jr. is a sculptor known for creating a series of hand-built clay sculptures about Harriet Tubman. The sculptures were first displayed at an exhibit in the Public Library of Hamilton County titled "Harriet Tubman's Experience in the Underground Railroad." The sculptures are now permanently loaned at the Harriet Beecher Stowe House in Cincinnati, Ohio, where they are on display.
Jane DeDecker is a sculptor from Iowa. She specializes in bronze work and her pieces often feature family groups or children.
A statue of Christopher Columbus was a memorial in Washington Park in Newark, New Jersey, within the James Street Commons Historic District. It was made in Rome by Giuseppe Ciochetti and presented to the city by Newark's Italians in 1927. The statue was removed by the city in June 2020 to prevent its toppling in a Black Lives Matter protest.
Harriet Tubman's birthplace is in Dorchester County, Maryland. Araminta Ross, the daughter of Benjamin (Ben) and Harriet (Rit) Greene Ross, was born into slavery in 1822 in her father's cabin. It was located on the farm of Anthony Thompson at Peter's Neck, at the end of Harrisville Road, which is now part of the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge.
Harriet Tubman (1822 – 1913) was an American abolitionist and political activist. Tubman escaped slavery and rescued approximately 70 enslaved people, including members of her family and friends. Harriet Tubman's family includes her birth family; her two husbands, John Tubman and Nelson Davis; and her adopted daughter Gertie Davis.
Shadow of a Face is a monument to abolitionist Harriet Tubman in Newark, New Jersey's Harriet Tubman Square designed by architect and artist Nina Cooke John. It was unveiled on March 9, 2023. It replaced a monument to Christopher Columbus in the same location which was removed in 2020 by the city to prevent its toppling in a Black Lives Matter protest. Several other monuments are in the park.
Harriet Tubman (1822–1913) was an American abolitionist and social activist. After escaping slavery, Tubman made some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 enslaved people, including her family and friends, using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. During the American Civil War, she served as an armed scout and spy for the Union Army. In her later years, Tubman was an activist in the movement for women's suffrage.