Harriet Tubman

Born into slavery on the eastern shores of Dorchester County, Maryland, in 1822, Harriet Tubman began her life as Araminta "Minty" Ross by her parents, Ben and Rit Ross, under their enslaver Anthony Thompson, who ran a large plantation in the area. When she was a teenager, she suffered from a head injury after an overseer threw a metal weight at her accidentally while trying to pursue another runaway slave. It was during this time she would suffer from vivid dreams that she believed was God speaking to her, which would later drive her faith and change her personality. In September 1849, she would flee her enslavers with her brothers, who later turned back to get their families. During her second attempt, she retrieved her relatives and brought them to freedom as well after reaching Philadelphia. This journey would be the start of a larger complex network that would later be known as the Underground Railroad for enslaved people to make the passage to freedom possible, often known for using the North Star as her guide. According to historical documents, it is estimated that she was able to rescue around 70 people through her network of routes over the span of 19 trips. She would use her network of abolitionists to continue her fight for civil rights and played a vital role in aiding the Union Army during the American Civil War. The activist also has strong ties to the Garden State. Visitors can take a trip up to Cape May to learn about her life at the Harriet Tubman Museum located in the area where she and other abolitionists lived in the 1850s. In 2023, the city of Newark was dedicated to renamed Washington Park in honor of the civil rights hero with a new interactive monument to preserve her legacy as well as honor the state’s role in the Underground Railroad.