[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 48 (Thursday, March 25, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E557-E558]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




CELEBRATING ACHIEVEMENTS OF WOMEN OF COLOR DURING WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. NANCY PELOSI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 25, 1999

  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate Harriet Tubman 
and her life-long dedication to social justice. We remember Harriet 
Tubman for her role in winning freedom for African-Americans. We 
remember her work on behalf of the Underground Railroad. We remember 
her courage in risking her life and freedom to help others to escape 
the tyranny of enslavement.
  Harriet Tubman was born a slave in the early 1820s in Bucktown, 
Maryland, near Cambridge. At birth, she was named Araminta, but later 
adopted her mother's first name. In 1884, she married John Tubman, a 
freed slave. Starting life on a plantation, she grew up doing hard 
labor in the fields and suffering repeated beatings. Once, at age 13, 
an overseer struck her with a heavy weight and, for the rest of her 
life, she struggled with the serious effects of a fractured skull.
  In 1849, after her owner died, she fled alone to Philadelphia on the 
underground railroad. Congress then passed the 1950 Fugitive Slave Act, 
a law that criminalized providing help to runaway slaves. Nevertheless, 
Harriet immediately dared to make her first return trip. Over the next 
decade, Tubman used the Underground Railroad to make 18 separate trips

[[Page E558]]

to free slaves. In total, she helped more than 3,000 slaves escape and 
earned the nickname ``Moses'' for having led so many of her people to 
freedom.
  It is said that she planned carefully, never repeated her route, and 
became an inspirational role model. Her success is measured by the 
reactions of slave owners, who placed a $40,000 bounty on her head, a 
fortune in today's dollars.
  During the Civil War, she worked as a Union spy, scout, and nurse. In 
these roles, she helped even more slaves to escape. After the Civil 
War, she campaigned to raise funds for black schools. Later, she 
established the Harriet Tubman Home for Indigent Aged Negroes in her 
own home. Like many others who have dedicated their lives to social 
justice, Harriet lived her later years in poverty. A few years before 
her death, Congress finally awarded her a monthly pension. Today, I 
urge my colleagues to refresh our recognition of her life an and good 
works.
  The date of Harriet Ross Tubman's birth is uncertain, but experts 
believe it is March 10, 1820. She died on March 10, 1913. It is, 
therefore, highly appropriate to honor this American hero during 
March's Women's History Month. At her death, Tubman was impoverished in 
economic terms, but her life was rich with great accomplishments, great 
works, and the knowledge that she had brought freedom to thousands of 
slaves. She is an inspiration to all of us.

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