Welcome, good evening. My name is elizabeth, and im the executive director here at the Woodrow Wilson house and its my pleasure to welcome you to the first of a series of speaking events that were going to have on suffrage. So the wilson house, if you havent been here before, its part of the National Trust for historic preservation. Wilson and his wife edith lived in this house and they turned edith turned it over to the National Trust in 1961 upon her death and it has been lovingly cared for and so we welcome you tonight. I wanted to tell you a little bit about how we started this suffrage speaker series. Asantewa boakyewa, our senior manager of collections and interpretations, said to me this summer when i first started the job, there is a commission on the suffrage and i think we should go to that meeting. Its the womens Suffrage Centennial commission. And i said, okay, im going to go with you. And so we went down to the library of congress and we sat at a big table and there were about 20 women in the room. It was a big, big square table and there were another 20 women on the telephone. And everyone goes around and theyre introducing themselves and theyre from the alice paul house and from this commission and that commission and, you know, from the National Portrait gallery, all of these places. And it comes around to us and i introduce myself, im from the Woodrow Wilson house and there was a collective sigh. Not to mention maybe one or two cases of whiplash. There was no oxygen left in the room. They all turned to look to us and say, did you know where you are . What are you doing here . I said, yes. And they said, who are these crazy women attending this meeting . And i said were not crazy, were passionate. We are passionate about telling stories. Were passionate about telling inclusive, diverse stories in the house and so thats why thats how this all formulated. I will introduce you lets see. Im thrilled that karen is here and, thank you. The womens Suffrage Group was created by congress. Providing for womens suffrage, its led by chairwoman susan combs and Colleen Shogan and a by partisan group of leaders and they have welcomed us and embraced us helping to commemorate history, celebrate the story, and educate future generations of learners and leaders. Karen hill is here tonight. Shes the president and ceo of the Harriet Tubman home and National Historic park which is was established to manage and operate the homestead of Harriet Tubman. In her role as the tubman home, karen hill shares tubmans core values with visitors who tour the property. She was influential in establishing tubmans home as a National Historic park. With that, please, help me with a warm welcome for Asantewa Boakyewa and karen hill. [ applause ] good evening, everyone. I do need this mic. Good evening, everyone. Thank you, again, for coming tonight. Its a pleasure to see you all in attendance tonight. I want to thank ms. Karen hill for gracing us with her attendance and look forward to a very good conversation. My name is Asantewa Boakyewa. Im the curator of the house here. After the presidency Woodrow Wilson moved to this home and lived here until 1924. We, two years ago, with the leadership of the National Trust and in concert with the leadership here at the Woodrow Wilson house decided that it was extremely important, urgent to address Woodrow Wilsons legacy on race by exploring more africanAmerican History of the era and that era which preceded wilsons presidency and also to highlight womens history in particular because Woodrow Wilson was in office when the 19th amendment was ratified. This first series is starting to look back at the beginnings of the movement. You might think, what is the connection with Woodrow Wilson and Harriet Tubman . Tonight we want to explore the life and work of Harriet Tubman. Hes obviously one of the most famous women, people, africanamericans in u. S. History. But we thought it would be interesting to explore one of her lesser known legacies which is her role not just for womens suffrage and supporting that movement but also for womens rights more broadly. Well get into conversation about that. Ill start first, ms. Hill, your mic should be on. Most of us are familiar with Harriet Tubman, the leader of the underground railroad, the moses of her people who brought enslaved people from the south to the north seeking freedom and emancipated herself. But looking back to the Womens Suffrage Movement and understanding that the Seneca Falls Convention happened in 1848, Harriet Tubman was still enslaved in maryland. After the war, Harriet Tubman would aid the cause of womens suffrage with the very leaders who convened at seneca falls as well as with africanamerican womens clubs. So considering her obviously amazing story from enslaved to free and also the racial divide that was within the movement, what was tubmans stance on womens suffrage and how did she articulate her position . Thats a great question. Good evening, everybody. Glad to be here. Let me just tell you a little bit about tubman first and then i think its easier to kind of back into where she stood on the question of suffrage and its complicated history. How many of you have seen the movie harriet . A good number of people. You know Harriet Tubman had this innuate ability to see far beyond her circumstance and she had seven core values, faith, freedom, family, community, social justice, selfdetermination, and equality. Those were her touchstones even when she was enslaved in maryland. For those of you who saw the movie, you know the power of faith, her faith guided her walk, her steps. Thats what led her to her freedom journey for herself and family and friends. She provided direct instructions for 70 people. But in the quest for her to have a more personal relationship with her god, she went deeper and thats a part of a liberation theology. She was a test she was a testament to liberation theology. When you said she was emancipated, her coming from the Eastern Shore of maryland up through saint kathryns and ultimately settling in auburn, that was an important but only part of her liberation theology. So everyone thinks of harriet, you know, as very familiar with the underground railroad and all that she did, not to diminish that because it was what provided Frederick Douglass the Empirical Data he needed to have for his to use his gift of oratory to talk about the importance of the value of freedom. Harriet, through her faith walk, knew that that was one part of her emancipation. So thats how she got to suffrage, okay . Because it was becoming free along the Eastern Shore and becoming more emancipated as a woman in her own right. If you saw the movie, you saw she was always people were always challenging her. You cant do this. You cant i can do this. Dont tell me what i cant do. Dont tell me what i cant do. I know what i can do. She was very determined. So she took very good care of her vessel. She lived to be 91 years of age taking good care of her vessel while continuing her work. She was truly a passivist but she knew there were some just wars, ie, the civil war. Thats why she lent herself to that journey and she challenged the u. S. Army. She was a nurse scout and spy. She actually led the first armed raid by a woman into battle, okay . Along the river in south south carolina. And ive been on the banks of the river when they dedicated it to Harriet Tubman. They dedicated the bridge that brings along the two counties. It connects them. When i was doing the research about that, i discovered that highway 17 was determined by the department of transportation as one of the most dangerous roads in america, one of the most perilous. And i said how perfect is it that harriet would be a part of the process of adjusting that and bringing people together and connecting people . So, you know, her emancipation continues today. It continues today because we see it in all of the murals that we see everywhere we go. We see harriet being depicted. Some places im a little bit not pleased. But depicted everywhere, nonetheless. So her getting to suffrage, she knew that she was stepping into auburn, you should know, they dont teach geography in school anymore. But seneca falls and auburn are in Central New York. Similar different from new york city. Its like its two states. Central new york, up state new york, down state. People are more familiar with down state. But auburn and seneca falls are maybe 20 miles from each other. Theyre in the same local. And the abolitionists movement was very fervent in auburn. So when she decided to settle in auburn, she knew she needed to be at least in an environment politically where the question of free or slave had already been asked and answered. But still segregation still existed in auburn, okay . Tubman on her property created nine cottages that were a series of home. It was the home for the aged and indignant negros. At the time it was segregated. Blacks were not admitted into the home. So rather she knew that was unjust but she knew she had an ability to do something about it. Her emancipation i know were going to talk about suffrage. But i have to share this. Her emancipation was also Economic Freedom and she knew becoming a landowner was a part of that Economic Freedom. Thats what allowed her to bring her family ultimately up from the Eastern Shore to auburn where they settled. Thats where she was able to as i said earlier, create the nine cottages on property where she housed seniors, africanamerican seniors, thats where she, guess what, provided Free Universal Health Care to everybody at the john brown hall. This was a woman who just saw freedom through a lot of different lens. And i feel like were just now on the cusp of this country of a turning point. Turning point of do we how do we go forward with that legacy . So suffrage was really key because what was happening is that Elizabeth Cady stanton and susan b. Anthony and others would get booed out of these halls when they would try to talk about suffrage and there would be black men in the audience because the fact that women were going to get the vote does everybody know what happened . Women got the vote and states determined to take the vote away from black men that were from africanamerican men through the 15th amendment. States began to pull back. So that was for tubman, thats quite a dilemma to advance women getting the vote, not including herself, and then black men very specifically whose their right to vote was going to be abridged. It was not going to be there. That put her in a real difficult situation. But susan b. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady stanton knew they needed a speaker like harriet to advance the suffrage argument. And tub man knew that if she advanced suffrage as a concept, one person, one vote, that was the bigger victory to have and then to still fight on for full enfranchisement of all americans. She knew that that was its amazing that someone born a slave could see beyond their own circumstance. Because that doesnt happen. Could see beyond her own circumstance and advocate fully for her to be for women to get the vote. And its still a real difficult story to tell because there were other women of color who were scholars, who wanted to really be a part of this, who were really marginalized in the suffrage argument. But tubman stood her ground. And as small in stature as she was, she was twice as large in a room like this, in a room like this, youd stay until midnight to hear what she had to say and open your pocketbooks. Im not going to ask you for any money. But she had this ability and her faith fueled all of her work. And that was something that people were not comfortable with for a long time. Its only been more recently. But the suffragists, particularly amongst the leaders, some of them quite frankly were very racist, okay . Elizabeth cady stanton and Frederick Douglass were great friends but she called blacks sambo and he took her to task on that. But she didnt see anything wrong with it. And she allowed him to stay at her house when he needed too and he eulogized her. Not a lot of people also know that Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, and Frederick Douglass all come out of the liberation theology of the Freedom Church which is the african methodist e mi zion church. Finding that in auburn, there was a zion church there. Thats where she felt like it had everything. It had a vibrant abolitionist movement. It had progressive women and men who believed in suffrage, womens suffrage and it had most importantly to her the church. Which is where she was fed and nurtured. I think the argument about tubman and suffrage needs to be talked about a lot more because it really gets into what battle are we willing to take up that will advance society beyond our own personal situation . How many of us can ask what are we doing to make a difference beyond our own personal situation . And i think thats one of the lessons of Harriet Tubmans legacy. You talked about obviously the you mentioned the choice that Harriet Tubman had to make as far as being a black woman in a movement that was quite frankly racist and thought at many times, and obviously later those who know the history well, there was a split, obviously, between the stanton wing who wanted to take the more conservative state by state approach, to the more radical wing that thought the constitutional amendment was nonnegotiable and should move forward. But i want to pick up on that point about that choice. If you could talk more about Harriet Tubmans role in the beginnings of the africanamerican club Women Movement and the National Association of colored women, these women who history may not mark as suffragists because they did not dedicate exclusively to suffrage, but because of the society, the black liberation theology, this idea that freedom goes beyond my situation as a black woman, i cant turn my i shouldnt be forced to choose between vote for myself or vote against my people. Correct. And i want to say that the colored womens club, they actually if you ever come to auburn and you see her headstone, the empire state chapter actually paid for her headstone thats there today. The original headstone broke many, many, many years ago and they dedicated the headstone because they tubman was one of them, okay . She was one of them. They were hers. It was there was no separation and i think that is if thing that tubman helped people to understand that we can be together and then there are journeys that i have to take that you may not be able to join it doesnt separate us. But im advancing something else. I do believe very strongly that god had predestined tubman to do amazing things. Because time and again she went beyond, beyond the average person. When she was she was scheduled to be with john brown at har pers ferry, but they kept changing the date. And i was like, that was only god that had it aligned that they changed the date and she didnt feel well on the date that it was scheduled. And the travel was going to be too much for her. Thats the only reason she was not at Harpers Ferry because god had more work for her to do. But she saw some people found john brown too zealous. But she saw in all earnestness he understood the pain that africanamericans endured in slavery. She did not see it because youre white you cannot understand what im going through. That takes a special individual to be able to see life through that lens. In auburn she was a woman she could neither read nor write. How amazing was that . She could not read nor write, but she could understand god. Theres something that happens on the inside that came out in her everyday walk. If you came to my park now and i took you to the tubman bedroom, you would see her bible. She could not read nor write, but her bible was there. Could not read nor write, but her himmymnal. She wanted to have those songs it put her closer to that. Could not read nor write. Could not read nor write. If you hear some of the oral histories they will tell you how their grandparents told them how tubman gave them fruits and vegetables when they brought to her a good report card. These are white auburnens. Could not read or write, but she valued education and excellence. Could not read nor write but she took care of, you know, her protein, her carbs, the balance of everything, walking. On her farm she grew she had a vegetable garden, she had animals, trees were propagating. The last of the original apple trees. This is somewhat and her favorite fruit was a strawberry. I have a hard time taking a strawberry if you offer me a chocolate cake. But she knew strawberry the wiser, better choice for me. And so i think the Health Care Industry is going to find a way to say, this is an example of how we age in dignity and grace, keep ourselves healthy. This is a woman well into her 80s who have you seen still traveling independently back and forth. When colonel shaw passed away, she made the trip from auburn to boston and that terrain is still not easy today to traverse. But tubman did it. And its because she understood that america was greater, that the promise of america was greater than what it had exhibited in her lifetime. So her emancipation journey said i need to plug into those pieces where i can make aoo as[u diffe. Getting back to suffrage, you know, i believe that tubman really supported women who believed in temperance. That was consistent with Everything Else about her. But she was not aligned with that community. Okay . Tubman knew clearly that black women were being marginalized but she was determined that she was not going to allow them to marginalize the voice of this black woman, herself, and she knew she was speaking not only for herself but for her sisters who had been marginalized. And coming out of the liberation theology we know how Sojourner Truth picked up that mantle. Thats not an accident. Thats one woman empowering with her voice another woman. Its like the drum. People they dont understand the power of the drum. But the drum in african culture, it beats in a way that informs people of next steps and what they should be doing and invigorates and enlivens and tubman was all of that. People were spellbound. In the movie they show they make a reference to theyre at the stewart house and shes telling theyre trying to talk about what the its not enough to bring people to freedom. Wed have to get them to canada. And thats another 400 miles. And her longest journey had only been a hundred miles to philadelphia and further north. Do you remember she says, dont tell me what i cant do . Right. Thats a bold statement. And Frederick Douglass is in the room and, you know, william stills is in the room and these are but she says shes in mourning. Dont tell me what i cant do. And its that kind of liberation theology that says your freedom is more than your personal freedom. It is social freedom. Its Economic Freedom. Its political freedom. And that comes from the Freedom Church. And shed talked about thinking about how sort of beelined she was to divisions of freedom, like youre saying, its an equal opportunity thing for her if youre not free in everything that you do, then youre not truly free. We all need to recognize that. Okay . If our votes dont count, were not free. If our votes are suppressed, were not free. If we dont have the equal opportunity to pursue our better selves, were not free. Its just that plain and i think she was a moderating force for those who were very racist. This is what makes things real for me, when things like [ laughter ] its okay. Its okay. But, you know, that she was a moderating force in that. She was not someone who stepped into suffrage to make a complicated situation more complicated. She was a person who was able to step in and say, look, its not perfect. Here are the reasons why i should not even join this movement, this suffrage movement, the womens rights movement. But here is why i must join. And so when i look at the womans march, for instance, and the divisions that have been its this great it was the great coming together in 2017. Oh, my god, everybody is so excited. Pink hats. The pussy hats. Everybody is so excited. And thats when tubmans the image of tubman was still on the very front of the Treasury Department because shes going to be on the 20 bill. People understand, that is predestined, okay . It is predestined. It will happen. So, you know, shes out there, everybody has their hats. Its wonderful. And then the divisions begin to creep up into it. I thought we were going to be doing this and i im prolife. Im prochoice. I thought why is this we need a harriet for this moment to say, hold up, wait a minute, we are fighting for something larger than ourselves. Were fighting for what democracy in its truer form ought to look like. We as women ought to be free to express ourselves in every political facet and full participation. But, you know, we havent had the harriet moment yet. And i am prayerful that that will happen because were all were all a part of something so much greater. She saw a mosaic of america. We havent gotten there yet. But she saw a mosaic of america that is far richer in its diversity, in its full embrace of people. I think that thats really the work going forward. And so these divisions that the Womans Movement is experiencing now is very much akin to what happened during the fight for the vote, believe me. Its not it was not an easy time. It was not an easy time. Native american women excluded. Latino women excluded. Asian women excluded. We werent good people. And i think we all have to share in the blame and we all have to share in the full embrace of the commemoration of a hundred years. You know, we actually call it a commemoration as opposed to a celebration because of the groups who were excluded from being able to participate. And how unfortunate that no one stopped to think that if we had had these groups included, we maybe would have gotten there a lot sooner. Very interesting. We would have gotten there a lot sooner. We would have learned incredible examples from the west. As you go went farther west and new states were being formed, women had incredible rights and were included. Some of the redder states had the more progressive policies towards women. If we open ourselves to the possibility that we could really be grater than who we are, thats what tubman saw. She died on march 10th, 1913. Exactly one week after what . The infamous parade that took place in washington, d. C. In washington, d. C. , that took place. Now the organizers for the parade, alice paul, you know, they wanted a bit of diversity. Not complete. Just a bit. Just a sprinkling, okay. So ida b. Wells and delta to participate in the parade and they were like, youll be at the back. This is among progressives. And they didnt see anything wrong with that. And its were so good let me be very honest. The most difficult times ive had in my life have been among progressive and liberal people, okay . Because i was brought up prepared to deal with people who were not. But youll be at the back and the deltas and ida b. Wells, they organized and said certainly not. Certainly not. Not even thinking of the optics of that. If for no other reason do you really want these newspapers to who are chronicling this amazing event that your president would see just before his inauguration intentional tactic. And that was alice paul. But just at the back. When we hear this, you know, i read about that, but im a little girl in my moms house and my grandmothers house hearing about the civil rights struggle and the back of the bus, i didnt realize that this is not the first time. Youll be at the back. What makes people think that they even have the temerity to ask somebody to take a backseat . That is an important question that we need to ask ourselves as a country and answer it. Because if you accept sitting at the back, theres a whole lot of other things that follow under that that those same people are at the back. And so in 19 in 2013 i came down here and its funny because i had another injury i work in a park, prone im just a clumsy person. But i came down here to participate in that march and i thought, harriet, how different is this now . First of all, we dont call them parades anymore. Calling it a parade versus a its a march, its a protest, its to say something. It was such a gathering of diversity and inclusion and it was intergenerational and men and women it was just a different, different experience in 2013. In 2020 commemoratively i think weve got a great slogan, forward into the light. Because we all need to get to the light. And so, you know, a lot of iconic building across the country are going to be lit up in the colors of suffrage which are the white, the gold and the purple. You have. Okay. Okay. You got your scarf. Okay. But its not an accident that those colors are white, purple and gold. Brenda will tell you every womens group, white, purple and gold. The bishops, white, purple, gold. Theres something thematic that says were trying to get to the light. So on august 26th, everything will be all lit up. But before that, im really glad that the commission will be coming to Central New York because we need to experience what women experienced at that first convention, you know. It w it was not organized. What do we want to come out of it . These women didnt think it was going to take them from 1849 to 1920. That is a lifetime. That is truly a lifetime. So theyre going to they were going to be in seneca falls, tour the tubman park because they need to see how this woman came from a semirural situation about 20 miles away and she was an incredible influencer. When this movement started, she was still enslaved. Harriets campaigns went from 1849 to 1859. So she joined up when she finally settled in auburn but she was like she was a spark of energy that they needed just sort of the right dose of activism and diplomacy but very supportive of women do not let men marginalize you. Do not let them tell you what you cannot do. And she knew that owning the land was really important, that that gave her rights. So every time i read about more young women are, you know, buying their own home, not waiting nothing wrong with marriage. But not waiting for marriage, per se. Im like, great. The Lending Community understands that they have to treat single women and married women equally. These are still the struggles that they have to take onto, you know in what we do locally just to advocate for women all the time. Until we get to the point where we dont really have to do that anymore. But i dont see that happening. Yes. It seems like a lifelong it seems like a lifelong struggle for humanity and for our partners, our men and women partners. Its important that people understand Human Dignity and how we get there. Mow do how do we get there . And we dont think about that very much. We teach children, dont do this. Dont do that. But we dont teach enough about how everybody is important. Everybody is important. And she Harriet Tubman created the space for us to begin to start the conversation. Yes. And i was in preparing for this conversation and thinking more deeply about Harriet Tubman in a way that i hadnt before, i thought, well, perhaps, even though the suffragists of wilsons presidency were much more radical than Harriet Tubmans generation, but were it not for harriets own revolutionary work and ideas, perhaps the country may not have been ready. Yeah, we would still be trying to get the vote. I honestly feel that. I believe that she did the groundwork for helping to fortify the next generation of leadership to come and thats really important. People its amazing. Could not read nor write but people would read her speeches as recorded by other people. Thats amazing. The press followed her. When she died, the New York Times covered it as a major story. And she left women of the church in charge of her home for the she understood that she also had to provide agency for women and not enough of us do that. Not enough of us do that. I just cant she took care of her parents. I dont understand why the elderly Care Community hasnt lifted her up. Because a lot of us struggle with how we care for ourselves and our parents. She understood that. Harriets mom pretty much was dispodant when she arrived. She lost another daughter. She had three daughters taken away and rachel died and just she just was really very dispodant and harriet knew i have to take the lead and bring my parents up and we will work out this situation together. And a lot of us are struggling with that today. And so, you know, i recommend everybody read bound for the promise land, the author is a great personal friend of mine. Up until about 15 years ago, there were over 250 books written about tubman, but they were all childrens books filled with great myths. One myth after another. And kate was amongst the first to write an incredible, welldocumented biography of tubman, which is this scholarly work is something that i recommend because you can always go to theres always something going on in your life, you can find it in the back, read the passage, this is what and you feel better. Its kind of a bible of sorts for me. You feel better. And let me tell you how god works. Kate larson is a white woman, historian, has done incredible work on tubman, still doing incredible work on tubman. Me, i have the tubman park. I am a member of the church and this is how god works. I came to that position looking for how i could volunteer at my local church. And they said, boy, do we have something for you to do. [ laughter ] and, you know, things happened from there. But kate and i both went to the same Womens College in boston and our years overlapped but we were never friends. And see how tubman works . We are such Kindred Spirits and she has brought us together. I think we talk almost on a daily basis. Wow. Speaking of that, that leads me to our final question before we open it up to the audience. And youve touched on it a bit. And im curious to know as a leader of a Historic Society what you think sites like the tubman home and the wilson house, these iconic homes of important americans, what role do we have as sites to advance this history forward, beyond opening our doors to the public in a general way for tourists. But how do you see Historic Sites being a part of this vision for equality and freedom that you talked about . I think if you operate, manage a Historic Site like we both do, the site has to always be alive. It has to breathe. History for historys sake, you know, but i think if the site is alive, if its looking at part of wilsons work and what he calls suffrage, one of his greatest accomplishments. Okay. [ laughter ] thats part two of the series. I think that would be an interesting. Okay. [ laughter ] when youre willing to open yourself for examination and when youre when you collaborate with other parks. You and i should be we should be talking about an event in 2021 or 2022, what have you, that we can do together. One of my aspirational themes is ive had one very preliminary talk, but i want to have a national day that would honor Harriet Tubman and her Servant Leadership because im here quite a bit. But every time im here in d. C. , which i love, and ive worked here so many times, there are a lot of leaders and not enough servants. Okay . And so im hoping at one of your renowned houses of worship here we have a worship experience that talks about that is dedicated to Servant Leadership. So i will be calling on you to join us in Partnership Around that. Having the gravitas of a former president s historic landmark be a part of this occasion makes others harriet is still harriet to some people. I understand that. But we have got to get Servant Leadership back on the board for the way in which we walk. It has got to happen. Yes. Thank you. You have talked beautifully about Harriet Tubmans legacy. Hes one of the most well known but perhaps the most misunderstand. And so we will open up to the audience now to ask questions that you have for karen hill and you can fill freel free to stan without a mic. Feel free to raise your hand and well point you out. Yes, maam . How do we help take what youve shared tonight on this collaboration and uplift and get the day for Harriet Tubman . Youve got the 20. Youve got the stamp. But were not getting it done. Right. Interestingly enough, you know, senator schumer, several months ago, asked for an ig investigation regarding the 20 bill and i will share publicly that the bureau of engraving and printing came to auburn. We had an amazing visit with them. They took it all in. You know, we went through this journey with them. The bill was well on its way. Thats all i will say without i just said they came to auburn and there were a lot of things that happened. So it was kind of abrupt. I juxtaposed that and i hear my mom talking to me now. Im going to make myself a target but i cant help it. I remember when our leader went to the Smithsonian National museum for africanAmerican History and culture and saw the exhibits and they said, well, what did you think of the museum . Great, great, great. Was there anything that really stood out to you . The exhibition on tubman. Tubman is in two different places in the museum. Harriet tubman, Harriet Tubman. And dr. Carson and his wife was standing behind. I said, okay, okay. Then i remember there was a womans conference at our wonderful white house and before the women led our wonderful leader said, i bet you dont know who i bet you dont know who led the first armed raid into enemy territory. One of our very own Harriet Tubman. I was like, okay. All right. And then we had the signing of the suffrage coin happen. And i was not able to make that. But tubman was referenced again. So theres an theres platitudes about tubman and, she shouldnt be on paper money. I believe in prayer. And i also believe in action. And the first week of the impeachment inquiry in the house, the hearings were scheduled on wednesday and on friday and on the thursday brenda, you were there with me the house decided to have a screening of the film harriet at the capitol in the evening which was wonderful. And, you know, they were speakers and Kevin Mccarthy got up and spoke. And he said, i want everyone to know that theres bipartisan support for Harriet Tubman to be on currency. So part of our job collectively is to remind our leaders, okay, i did over 500 hill visits, meetings, before we became a park. We have to have a Similar Movement like that because that good will ought to translate into good actions. So thats where we are. I feel very encouraged. I am thrilled that the president had those wonderful words to say about tubman. Ill remind him. Here it is. Here it is. Here it is. I am grateful that senator schumer has asked for an ig investigation as to exactly what happened. I am thrilled that minority leader mccarthy said we support tubman being on currency. These are documented circumstances, okay . And god is on the throne. Harriets god is on the throne. So i know it is going to happen. I cant say exactly when. But, you know, its moving in our direction. So everyone here, when you hear about an opportunity to gather, because we had harriet on the hill day before we got the legislation taken care of for us to become a national park, there will be a similar kind of action where people will be asked to speak up. And, you know, to call your congressperson, call your legislator, call the people who are in both in the womens caucus, because thats a bipartisan caucus. Its important. It is so important. She and she was selected twice by the people of this country to be on the 20 bank note. And when ill be honest. When she was first selected, that was great. And then when the president decided to do a redo of all of that, and i said, okay, i wasnt happy, but i was like, okay, and we had the treasury of the then treasurer of the United States come to auburn. We went through all of the paces. She was shocked when we were in the chapel over at womens rights to hear from people and there were maybe three black people in the room, in that hot, crowded day n the summer, to hear people say harriet needs to be on the 20 bill. They had historians convene at treasury, two or three times. And everyone ultimately decided that she needs to be on the currency. She needs to be on the 20 bill specifically, the most ubiquitous form of currency. That will probably be one of the best Economic Empowerment tools for everyone. I believe well make good choices about everything we do with those tubman 20s. [ applause ] any more questions . Yes. Im just about to finish the first book, i was wondering if you read it. If you had a comment in the magical realism of Harriet Tubman in the book. No. He is somebody who i much admire, really, and hes a voice that needs to be listened to. Theres magical realism in the novel and she plays a part of it. Its interesting. What i have been really much more focused on, quite frankly, is i say i spend the movie did a wonderful thing for me. It took the issue of her faith and made it clear to people, where faith stood. And it made it more clear for me personally how faith has to really be in abundance in our life in terms of guiding as guidepost, okay . And i spend a lot of time like i said, the 250 books that are written, written for children, the myths about tubman are just tremendous, and theyve been written over and over and over again. So, a lot of what i do is just dispelling the myths so we can look at who she was and what she did. And another thing that i do is im a huge admirer, as im sure everyone in this room is, of dr. King, of rosa parks, of fanny lou hammer, and i really try to make sure that all of those admirers understand that the groundwork was laid by harriet. Even Frederick Douglass, he says his work was fuelled by the work of harriet. You know, and sometimes its really hard in the work that we do when youre lifting up someone who was a historical figure. A little bit easier for you guys because youve got a president , okay . But, you know, its really hard when someone, you know, when they only go as far back as dr. King. Thats sort of where we are as a culture. And theres just theres a whole lot of stuff that happened prior to that that we forget about completely. Yes. So, thats where i spend my time. You mentioned liberation theology. Im from central america. Yes. And liberation theology in my formation personally indeed 60s, 70s, 80s played an extraordinary role in the struggle for articulation. Would you articulate in the africanamerican context how you see it. I think it would be a very fascinating and important thing to integrate, to unite. So, latin america is so well known for its liberation theology, particularly through the catholic church, okay . In the africanamerican methodist episcopal zion church, liberation theology really took its basis from we were founded in Lower Manhattan on john street. It was an arrival for slaves, for people of color, to come to this country. And our theology and were methodist, so we believe in order, order, order. Order. But the liberation theology says its more than just sitting in the pew. Were known historically as the Freedom Church. And i think thats one of the reasons that the church has been able to sustain itself and to remain relevant because it understands its not just what we do, what we practice inside the walls of the church. Its what we practice outside the walls of the church. The church that myself and brenda belong to, over 80 ministries, you know, theyll do that does dynamic work in other realms. Built housing, helps with employment, provides child care, helps with the elderly. Liberation theology is doing all that we can for all of us collectively, participating. I think monday is our day with the soup kitchen. Right in the community it goes around. Being a part of something greater is what we do. And taking we dont practice politics in the church, but we inform people of their rights, their right to vote, not just in november but school election, down ballot, all of that. And encouraging that and bringing up children so that they know that theyre full citizens of this country. I think that black and brown people particularly are going to have to learn how to Work Together with all of with each other and with all of america. I dont think that it does anyone any good to say this group is the minority now and in 20 years its going to be this group. Were all in the same situation. And how do we how do we see further than ourselves . I mean, thats really what i started with. Tubman was someone who saw beyond herself for others. Thats really part of a liberation theology, okay, knowing that freedom is a continuing, evolving struggle because our constitution, as wonderful as it is, is not a perfect instrument. [ inaudible question ] yeah. And that its only the people themselves can make it more perfect. I dont know if i answered you. Very good. Thank you. Very moving. We see the theology is in the other. Right. The poor, the other person. And thats how we realize ourselves. Right. I think that was really profound information. In latin america, we havent heard or seen the last of it yet, i think you would see a resurgence. But that integration with the struggle it has to happen. Especially in this metropolitan center. This is not a country. This is an empire, the entity. But we have to unite the here and the there. And the there is not alabama only. Its all over. Right, right. Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you. I have a question about something i didnt understand that you said about the service. The servant. The Servant Leadership, if you can explain what that is. Yes, Harriet Tubman was sort of catapulted as a leader for her iconic work. But she never stopped being a servant. She never stopped using her hands and her mind and her being to serve others. You have to be willing to serve. You have to be willing to serve without acknowledgment. Doing the right thing because its the right thing to do. A lot of leaders here, and thats what i a lot not enough servants. You know, if they serve, they want it on tv at 6 00, okay . Have to be willing to serve because then youre really truly doing good, youre helping someone else. Thats why i think its important that we have an exposition of Servant Leadership. Sort of you need a staff of servant leaders to get this 20 bill work done. Its absolutely, absolutely. They have to be leaders to do that too. They have to be leaders, but they have to be leader who willing to serve. Let me tell you something. An effective leader is a leader whos able to show the people following him or her that he or she is a servant. You have to be willing to wash the feet, okay . And if youre not, youre not there yet. Im sorry. Im just any other yes . Any other questions . We have time for just one more. Well, i have another one if no one else does. So, im a midwife, and i no e that one of Harriet Tubmans roles is that she did serve as a midwife. At our church, at our unitarian church, we had a whole service dedicated to her as a midwife of consciousness, she midwifed the consciousness of the nation and that we as midwives now, that thats part of our ongoing work now. Do you have a comment on that . No. No, but i will say her midwifery is really amazing because this is a woman who, as i said, she could never read or write. And she never had children herself. But in every way, she made herself available to bringing to serve, to bring children into the world, and to nurture children herself, having adopted. We thought we know at least one, perhaps two, children. And she took in children who, you know there were children who were legally adopted whose parents whose adoptive parents just returned them back to the homes. I mean i just dont even want to get into all of that. But its almost as if people are adopting children not for giving them a loving environment, but also they became somebody else who could do something else. So, but hard to place children, they could count on tubman to give them a wonderful home, a wonderful home environment. And so from the local adoption agencies, as theyve closed and moved on, some of them have given us their records of we think this is Harriet Tubman and her husband who adopted this child who had been returned six prior times from six you know, this is her service is just astonishing. And she took care of her nieces and her nephews as if they were her own. And shes very, very fond of the sewards, william and francis seward. She was going to be buried closer to them, but she had a nephew who died indigent. So, she gave up her burial plot and thats where her nephew is buried. Shes buried about 100 feet away. Okay. Well, we have come to the end of our program. Thank you. Thank you. [ applause ] and thank you to the audience for spending your evening with us. Thank you cspan for tonight. We encourage you to visit us again for tours and for the remainder of this series. You have fliers in your chair. And if youre interested in Harriet Tubman books, we have a few left in our gift shop, one copy left of the larson book that karen mentioned. So, on your way out, feel free to stop in, and we hope to see you again. Thank you. Youre watching American History tv. Every weekend on cspan3, explore our nations past. Cspan3, created by americas Cable Television companies as a Public Service and brought to you today by your television o provider. Weeknights this month, were featuring American History tv programs as a preview of whats available every weekend on cspan3. Tonight a look at women in politics. On the night that democratic Vice President ial candidate Kamala Harris addresses the Democratic National convention. We show two past Convention Speeches from women Vice President ial nominees. In 1984, democrat gerald dean and sarah palin who ran with john mccain. Watch tonight beginning at 8 00 eastern and enjoy American History tv this week and every weekend on cspan3. Next on American History tv, three authors explore the role of men in the Womens Suffrage Movement and the reasons these men supported the 19th amendment. This National Archives event is one of a series associated with their exhibit, rightfully hers american women and the vote. Well, good