WASHINGTON – Tourists and history buffs will be able to see some rare, personal belongings of famed abolitionist Harriet Tubman when a museum of African American history opens on the National Mall.
On Wednesday, historian Charles L. Blockson donated about 40 objects from Tubman’s life to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Once owned by the woman who led hundreds of slaves to freedom via the Underground Railroad, the items range from a knife and spoon from her kitchen to a shawl given to her by Queen Victoria, as well as Tubman’s favorite hymnal.
They are the only relics from Tubman known to exist outside of her home in Auburn, N.Y., said museum director Lonnie Bunch.
“For me to be able to tell the story of the Underground Railroad through Harriet Tubman with actual artifacts is really a surprise I didn’t expect,” Bunch said. Seeing the artifacts the first time, he said, was “really one of the most moving moments in my career.”
Tubman was born into slavery on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. After escaping in 1849, Tubman led countless slaves out of the South to freedom. The donation coincides with the anniversary of her death, March 10, 1913.
She will one day have a prominent place in the museum’s planned “Slavery and Freedom” gallery, curators said. The museum is slated to open near the Washington Monument in 2015.
