Harriet Tubman: Cobalt Character

The real history

Tubman was born Araminta Ross, known as Minty, in early 1822 in Dorchester County, Maryland. Her parents, Ben and Harriet "Rit" Ross, were enslaved. At about 13 she suffered a nearly fatal blow to the head that caused pain and sudden sleeping spells for the rest of her life. In 1844 she married John Tubman, a free Black man, and at some point in the 1840s she began using the name Harriet.

In 1849, after her enslaver died and she feared being sold, she escaped north to Philadelphia. Over the next ten years she made about 13 trips back to Maryland's Eastern Shore, bringing out about 70 people, nearly all of them family and friends she knew and trusted. She also gave directions to about 70 more freedom seekers who made the journey on their own. Her last rescue, in December 1860, brought away seven people.

When the Civil War began, Tubman went to work for the Union Army as a spy, scout, nurse and cook. On June 1, 1863, she joined a Union raid along the Combahee River in South Carolina that freed more than 700 enslaved people, many of whom then enlisted in the Union Army.

In 1859 Tubman had bought a home in Auburn, New York, where she settled her family. She spent her later years caring for others and founded the Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged. She died on March 10, 1913, and was buried with military honors in Auburn's Fort Hill Cemetery.

Sources

1. Harriet Tubman, National Park Service
2. Myths and Facts About Harriet Tubman, Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway (fact sheet hosted by the National Park Service)
3. Harriet Tubman, National Women's History Museum

Checked against these sources on October 2, 2026. Spot a mistake? Report an error. How we check facts.