Yesterday marked the 105th anniversary of the death of Harriet Tubman; one of the pivotal forces behind the civil rights movement. This was also the day where a public park space that housed the bronze replicas of Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, two Confederate Army generals was rebranded to Harriet Tubman Grove.
According to The Baltimore Sun, many, including the descendants of Harriet Tubman and city officials gathered at Wyman Park Dell for the monumental ceremony. Ernestine Jones-Williams, a descendant of Tubman said “We are overwhelmed. Overwhelmed. Thank you, and God bless you.”
The decision for removing the former statues and in the future to replace three other Confederate figures came from Mayor Catherine Pugh’s administration; this was in response to a fatal white supremacist march that occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia in August 2017.
Ciara Harris, chief of staff to Baltimore Recreation and Parks Director Reginald Moore commented “Harriet Tubman Grove will provide the city an opportunity to correct historic injustice to a Maryland native,” “Our city is properly recognizing an African-American hero.”
Tubman was one of the most recognizable figures behind the Underground Railroad, a network comprised of safe houses and secret routes to aid slaves in escaping to the North and Canada in their quest for freedom in the 1700 through the 1800s. The abolitionist worked for the Union Army as a cook and Nurse then as an armed spy and scout. Tubman named Amarinta Ross at birth, died on March 10, 1913, in Auburn, New York.
