Transcripts For CSPAN3 Harriet Tubman And The Maryland Underground Railroad 20170421

Courtmartial proceeding. She was working as a nurse in South Carolina and the Court Transcript allows us to hear her in her own words. After the war, she received the pension as a widow of a union veteran, nelson davis who had served as a private in the 8 United States colored infantry. Years after she died, tubman petitioned congress for additional benefits for her own service outlined in her affidavit as nurse and cook in hospitals and commander of several men, eight or nine, as scouts dpurg the late war. Congress received numerous documents and letters supporting tubmans claim and they, along with her affidavit are here in the records of the niets house of representatives. Tubmans pentagon was increased to 20 for her service as a nurse. Tonight, a distinguished panel will discus the life enlegacy of Harriet Tubman and ongoing presentation efforts of her birthplace. Ms. Ross is feeling in for robert f. Parker listed in our program but unable to be with. Dr. Jones is the University Archivist at morgan state. Her scholarship is evidence in numerous publications and speaking engagements, as well as radio and television appearances. She is the author of three books, all biographies of pivotal figures in africanAmerican History whose lives in washington, d. C. Have been lesser known. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome marcy wolf ross, dr. Edin jones and the panel to the stage. Of. Good evening. I am marry roz and i work for the great state of maryland and the Maryland Office of Tourism Development and ill thrilled to be here tonight to visit us in maryland and discover for yourselves while maryland is the moat powerful underground Railroad Story telling destination on the planet. Im going to take you through that invitation by sharing some of the progress weve made over the last 20 years and throughout the Maryland Underground Railroad initiative. That initiative is an effort that is a true collaboration. Its a collaboration among the Public Sector and the private sector, government, nonprofit, for profit. And really a statewide representation of a very passionate constituency who has come to the state of maryland and said will you please help us get this important story told and then share it with the world. First and foremost, i would like to share with you information about the Harriet Tubman underGround Railroad National Historical park. As you can see here, it was established by president obama on march 25th, coincidentally, thats maryland day. Through an executive order after many, many, many years of work in order to get that park established. It was actually a monument first and shortly after wards the National Historic park. The mission is to protect landscapes and places that were important to tubmans life. As a young child, woman and freedom seeker. And then in order to actually have a National Park, the nps had to acquire land in that landscape where she was from. On this map here, just gives you some information about the boundaries of the National Historical park. This entire land skip was determined by the National Park service to be one of the most quell preserved and authentic agrarian landscapes in the country. And as you drive through there and visit, you will see that not much has changed since harriets time. As i mentioned earlier, none of this would have been possible with had it not been for wonderful partnerships, collaboration and certainly passion. Whether its its the image you see on the left, which is the hair yet Tubman Museum and home to the Harriet Tubman organization, which has really been the flag bearer for getting tubman and underground Railroad Stories told on the Eastern Shore for many,ing many year, to some of the other attractions like the dorchester coupty Visitors Center, which welcomes people from all over the world. Theres no statue or monument per se. It was actually a mechanism to get this important story told. We are in the process of putting the final touches on a brandnew underGround Railroad Visitors Center. Also whats come to maryland with that legislation that establishes the National Park is maryland is home to the underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program. The network to Freedom Program is a wonderful opportunity for anybody who would care to get involved in to underground Railroad Research and help share those stories through designations of sites, programs and facilities. It just so happens that right now, maryland has more network to Freedom Program members than any other state in the nation. Theyre work on whats known as a foundation document, a planning document to move the park forward and engage the community. Theyre also loonging at the National Resources and the landscape in the area with the goal of eventually acquiring more properties related to tubman. And theyre going to take a look at a visitors study to make sure the information were providing is good for visitors. Im just going to skip over these next two slides. Because a colleague of mine is going to go ahead and touch base on those in a minute. You see an image of what visitors do is from the southwest side. Those buildings have a shape and a purpose. Youre going to hear a little bit more about that when our architect comes up and speaks about the design of the park. This is another view looking from the south to the north and into the front door and plaza of the Visitors Center. Just a back view. Its multilevel, about 15,000 square feet. What you see in the picture. Those are beams that have been reused from barns that have been taken down. So that helped get the lead vert fi case. The park site itself, 17. 44 acres has an outdoor pavilion for gatherings of up to 150. Theres a fireplace out there and lots and lots of picnic tables. To get a taste of of the interior, im going to run this fly through as we call it. Theres no sound, so you have to put up with me walking you, or flying you through this video. This rendering would be as if youre woalking in the front dor and the lobby. And yes, it mostly focuses on tubman and the underGround Railroad in maryland. But because its the home of the network to freedom, we have network to freedom exhibits, and we also have orientation exhibits to the Harriet Tubman underGround Railroad biway, which was designated one of the best driving tours in the nation in 2008. Theres a gift shop, but as you can see here, as a visitor, you are brought figuratively back in time through this gateway entrance and what we call affectionately the egg. And this is a very transformative space. Its one that will be filled with images. And the goal is to leave your modern world behind and enter into tubmans. So there are really three, maybe four specific focuses of the exhibits. What you see here in front of you is you see a tubman story early life. And we talk about what it was like to be enslaved in maryland, what enslavement meant in maryland, and what it must have been like for tubman as a little girl to have to live through what it is that she lived through. If you think about tubman. She was born african. She was born as a woman a female. She was born without any opportunity to have education. And later on in her life, she was also disabled. So when you think about that at the time how remarkable she was, it sets a great stage for how you can move through the rest of the inside of the park and the exhibits. Then you enter the journey and her rescues, the times that she came back. Her selfliberation and her coming back for family. And she came back to get her parents and her siblings, others. But in her heart, her ultimate goal in the end was to come back and bring her sister rachel and her children to safety. Sad to say that tubman never got to realize that part of her mission to free people because rachel was sold south and was never heard from or seen again. So in the end b the third part of the exhibits is what we call the journey. And we talk more about the greater context of the tubman, what she faced in the civil war later in life. Then we have here, were moving down towards the legacy gallery. We have beautiful stained glass images and its a really wonderful contemplation and just a rest. Because if youve ever been into a story telling facility like th this, it can be overwhelming. Were cruising right by the theatre here in the right and we will take our leave of the interior of the Visitors Center. So as i mentioned, this is is an invitation. And we will very much like for you to join us on marylands Eastern Shore on march 11th and 12th for the grand opening of the Harriet Tubman underGround Railroad Visitors Center. Theres a wonderful programming thats going to be there. Dr. Kate Clifford Larsen who wrote bound for the Promised Land will be there. Our esteemed colleague will be talking about some wonderful programming, not just for adults, but for the whole family. And last, i would like to show you the land beyond the tubman Visitors Center. Maryland is home to the beginning of the Harriet Tubman underGround Railroad biway. In maryland its 125 miles of driving that takes you to the places where tubman actually was born, lived, sought her freedom and came back to rescue others. I will say theres some fun to have along the way in addition to learning all of this great history. And there should be some audio running here. Thank you very much for allowing me to share your evening. I promise you if you travel to maryland it will be transformative. Thank you very much. Good evening, everyone. Thank you for your warm introduction and welcome to your house. I love this space. I want to thank our logistics guy on zek. I want to thank you to the audience for coming out tonight in the midst of the rain that has symbolism on this day about Harriet Tubman. Family, faith and Community Also in our other edition we did in maryland. Nevertheless, im here to be your moderator and introduce our panel. We have a distinguish eed panel would like to introduce to you and give you discussion and hopefully you have conversation to join us in the middle. From the far left is marcy ross wolf. Did i get that right this time . Marcy wolf roth. She serves as the Tourism Development at the Maryland Office of tourism and development. She leads the Program Responsible for the management of the states Customer Contact centers. The twomt of new, regional and statewide travel products and the county cooperative Branch Program that provides matching grants to the states 23 counties in Baltimore City and ocean city. She represents the motd on the Capital Region u. S. Board of directors, the Maryland Heritage Area Authority and numerous other tourismrelated entities. She assisted in identifying sites capable of receiving 15 million in grants awarding to help Development Multiple historic tourist destinations throughout the state of maryland including the Harriet Tubman ubds Ground Railroad bypass. For her work, shes been honored by a number of organizations including the white house conference on cooperative conservation and the africanamerican Tourism Council of maryland. It was under her leadership that maryland was the first in the nation to produce a statewide National Underground Railroad Network to freedom guide. So her left is dr. Cheryl laroche. She is an archaeologist and an assistant Research Professor in the department of anthropology in the university of Maryland College park. She has researched and mapped africanAmerican History and understood Ground Railroad sites for the past 17 years. Her work has led to a call for a new field of study, africanamerican critical geography. She serves a lead author in the Cultural Landscape consultant for the 2009 Harriet Tubman special resource study, environmental assessment. The society of historical archaeology awarded dr. Laroche the john l. Cotter award for her work for bringing multiple disciplinary approach to the study of africanamerican archaeology. Her first book free communities and the understood Ground Railroad a geography of resistance shameless plug, i just got my copy. I encourage you to get yours. We celebrate her. To her left is chris elcott. He is a senior associate with a gw gwwo, a baltimorebased firm specializing in the design of visitor and interpretive scepters. Chris was responsible for coordinating all aspects of the project, Concept Design and construction for a team in addition to architects, engineers, landscape architects, marketing consultants, video fers and video designers. Dedicated to this project since 2008, chriss immeps passion for this project, one that is sure to be a standout of his career helps to drive the new Harriet Tubman understood Ground Railroad Visitors Center. When you hear him talk about it, youre really enveloped about what his concept was to successful completion. He currently leads a team of 12 architects on projects that focuses on interpretation, education and performing art paens the gwwo Architects Incorporated are nationally recognized specialists in designing cultural and educational facilities with an historically, culturally, environmentally sensitive context. Since theyre a baltimorebased firm, they have been involved in the design of 50 Visitor Centers, museums and interpretive facility, among which are the george washington, Mount Vernon Ford Orientation Center and in baltimore once again, the Fort Mchenry National monument and historic shrine and visitors education center. To his left is the illustrious colleague and friend of mine, Elizabeth Clark lewis. Shes an awardwinning historian of the United States and the if you believe History Program at Howard University. She taught courses on africanamerican women, history of the District Of Columbia and the history of africanamericans in pennsylvania. She has offered courses in museums and archives, oral history, historic presentation and a seminar in field studies. In conjunction, she has taught students about general Logical Research and family genealogy and courses on related themes. She has published books and articles on various subjects among first free emancipation in the District Of Columbia and her awardwinning book, living in, living out, africanamerican domestics in washington, d. C. Great book on domestic workers. She has written over a dozen articles on women, race, household workers and related subjects. She served as the project director and producer of a pbs documentary called freedom bags. An awardwinning film. And she has been supported by Numerous Research grants from the National Parks service and National Endowment for the arts and the d. C. Humanities council. So before i start with my panelist, i have another book i have to share as a fellow archivist and educator. This is by milton sir net. Its called Harriet Tubman, myth, memory and history. Its good for those who are academics. Historians fleed archives. Here are vo loomous records on the civil war. But you really have to delve into the primary sources. Harriet tubman and her contemporaries, they werent allowed to learn to read. We dont call them ill literal, we call them nonliterate people because they were not given the capacity to exercise that potential. How do they document themselves, how do they explain themselves . We have to yooz other sources and means in which food so. Dr. Laroche has done an excellent job of being able to reconvene and remeet with those things that were very much pleased to see that we can use the ecology, the landscape along with the physical structures and the visual history to recreate har yet tubmans world. Standing in the rain, it was very cathartic. She was an african person. Her parents were enslaved. She was enslaved. But there was a strong africaniafrican ism that was in the culture. Its not foreign for her to understand herself in terms of using constellations and stars, to use visions and dreams and spiritual entities to which help to guide her north. She made multiple trips back. When we look at Harriet Tubman, we should look at her as a prism, refracting the light of an enslaved woman, sees herself as an individual, but also part of the community. She was an american citizen. But nevertheless, we celebrate her as a hero, a courageous person and someone that we can see as a prism through which we can refract light. Morgan state opened a Harriet Tubman dorm. And on commemoration of that dorm, the students spoke and she wrote Morgan State College is therefore happy to thus honor her and the women are proud to reside in a Building Made sacred by this heroic character, whose example should be an inspiration not only to the women of the school and of the state of maryland but to all women seeking to live fully and Render Service worthy of their day and generation. Thats what she means to me. Im going to ask our panelists to discuss in about three to five minutes how they want you to join them in exploring her life. So thank you. Get ready for questions and answers once were finished. Who wants to go first . Chris, do you want to go first . Do you need the slides . Ill get them in a second. As an architect, a project like this is just an extraordinary honor. And for my lifes work and the work of the firm, we do what we call storybased design. We love project where is theres stories to be told and then one day the opportunity to work on Something Like this happens. Just an extraordinary honor. The design for a project like this is something where we dont start with a pen. We start with our ears. For us when the state first advertised that they were looking for architects with certain qualifications to do this project, we came down to see the site and it was really interesting. It was just this abandoned 17 acres of abandoned farm land protected woodlands to the north. We knew that to the north of the site was property that was owned by the fisheries and wildlife. But just south of that were 17 acres just flat. Nothing. Most people i overheard talking about the fact well, gosh, theres nothing here. Its just a blank canvas. And for us, everything was there. Everything was already there for us. You had an empty site and you had to direct north these woods. And it made us think why would anybody at any given time just get up and leave . What held us back . So many months of hard work and later we settled on this concept. And i hope everyone can see it. We actually developed four concepts and this one is the one that was chosen. Its called the view north. So north is up. So these are the woods that were there that we wanted to exploit. We worked closely with the landscapes and the architects with the exhibit designers because we felt it all had to come together. What we do is we start you at the southern most point of the site and then we take you, even while youre in your vehicle on a journey north. And so this is your first oriented principles. Theres two buildings. You can drop off in necessary or if not, you can take the loop through the park. But even when you get out of your cars youre traveling north and then slip over in this direction towards the interpretive center. The entire site is made up of you see several different tones of green in this site on these 17 acres. And its deliberate. What we wanted to do was make sure we reinforced this view north. And we do that with landscape, the Landscape Design by having a series of grasses at different heights. What were doing here is exploring different notions of concealment. Again, this is the underground Railroad Story. And this area is the lawn, which is kept at the what you would consider the traditional height that you have grass, three or four inches. And then on either side we begin to change that height to knee high and then waist heeg. And so as you stand here, even as when you first come to visit the site, you may see people walking across and theyre going to be crossing in the Memorial Garden at various levels of exposure. Youre going to be at the field at the same time we saw this site in 2008 and youre going to be able to look to the north. We deliver you back safely to where you started. But you have this opportunity to make these choices and so you have this opportunity to be exposed, fully exposed, partially, completely, concealed. And it gives you an opportunity, we hope even when youre outside, to think about decisions and that people had to make these decisions and it was not a convenient thing just to head north. Who could you trust . Who should you trust . And who may report on you . The Visitors Center itself we actually split the building into two. They wanted a building. So the business of running the park is on this side and this is the public side. This building is really nonbuilding because the National Park service and the Maryland Park service are located here and so this is essentially just a wall to frame that view north for the visitor. And then because its a park, there are recreational aspects and this is the area where we decouple sort of the more serious aspect of the park to the areas of recreation. And im going to explain to you again. Because this story was so rich with information, we wanted again to incorporate as much of that as we could. Even with how you would circulate this building. So this is a blow up of the exhibit building and many of us understand the notion and understand that okay you travelled north towards freedom. What was interesting is that she came back. We can prove that she came back 13 times. We have official documentations for 13 returns. You think youre just going to head north and the it building goes from darker to lighter. Theres more light than when you start to experience the exhibits. But we dont just send you on a northbound mission. Youre going to get pulled across and we understand if the escapes were linear, you could be caught much easier and so youll go through this story and learn all about the underGround Railroad and what do we do . You come back more enlightened and ready to go again. Those are some of the examples that where we talk about using the story and using the person and using information that we learned to guide us with the architecture. We are avid readers and so weve spent a lot of time combing through the promise line by kate larsson. And we also spent time with James Mcbrides sung yet sung. That was fictional. But he came to the Eastern Shore. He kiem for a day. Changed his plans and spent four more days on the by ways and its a fictional story of this cabin like character that had these premonitions and so the landscape is just so incredibly transportive that we were able to take hopefully take all of that inspiration and bury that embed it within the project. I think ill give everybody else a chance to talk. Thank you. On this wet foggy day, we really appreciate you being here. Im fgoing to talk to you about something a little bit different. I would expect most of you already know the fact of coming to light and so im not going to spend a lot of time talking about the trip or what she did. I want to talk to you and rewea three different tleds together. Ive been living with Harriet Tubman for such a long time ive been thinking of her in more abstract ways. I want you to understand a different way of thinking about this woman and her history. And i want us to think about what she means for the modern era. My students are always like look, professor, why are you telling me this . History has to be youthful. Thats the way our students think about it. I want to leave you with a useful history of Harriet Tubman. Im going to also put her life in the larger context of black history. Why is it important to talk about her in the context as we wrap up black history month. So what does she mean for the modern era . Why should we care besides calling her a hero . What does that actually the mean . We know tubmans life exemplified moral curage. The thing she did took beyond what ordinary people have. Not only did she have moral curcu curage but that is defined by having fine moral character. These are things that we do not usualee apply when were talking about people held in slavery. Sometimes people will look at me and say youre talking about slaves, right . Yes, im talking about human beings who had many of the same kinds of qualities that we look to for people who are exhibiting much greater capacity. And yet tubman is there doing things that are unbelievable in my mind and as we think about ourselves, we can draw some examples for ourselves and for our leaders about stepping forward with the same moral curage that tubman displayed in the face of injustice. When you are faced with difficult decisions, do you have the curage to step forward as she did . These are things that really resonate with me as i think about her. You know she escapes not once but twice and the first time she left her brothers made her return. They lost their curage. We know it is fleeting. It can stay with us at one point and leave the next. She knew that and she carried a pistol. Because when your curage left you, she pulled out her gun and said when your leadership wont get you, this will. She understood when were weak and perhaps afraid to go forward, she needed something to encourage you to move through. So she knew that she had to build curage when our curage failed us. She knew how to lead when you lost the ability to lead yourself. When you lost your curage and your hope. If personal assurance couldnt get the job done, then surely the pistol would. And she had a deep faith in god and often thats been characterized by historians as supervisi superstition, treated very lightly. Harriet tubman had a personal relationship with god and anyone who reads her story knows that thee is in direct dialogue with the creator and much of what she was able to do was because of her unshakeable faith that god had put her here to do something important and she followed through. She often said she told god she didnt want to do thooez things and time again he said no, harriet, youve got to do them. She is not a person if you go to central casting to look for leadership, shes not showing up. Shes a woman, a black woman in the 19th century. That should rule her out for any form of leadership considering the history of African Americans in this country. Barely 5 feet tall, barely unable to read or write and no one ever catches her. People with far more money, far greater resources, far more opportunity to track her down never caught her. So you have to have a lot of respect, at least i do for this woman. On her very first trip, imagine this. Shes escaped twice, once when her brother made her come back and the second time successfully. Can you imagine that very next trip she takes her niece, a husband, a 6yearold and an infant out of slavery. Anybody whos ever travelled more than 15 minutes with a 6yearold, you know that this has got to be some incredible feet this woman has done. How can you escape with these sixyearold and these people . This is on the job training for Harriet Tubman. And i want you to understand that just because youre being led doesnt mean youre experiencing leadership. We often confuse the rule of power and might with leadership. But it has nothing to do with tubman showed a curage, moral fiber and an understanding of how to bring people forward when she had few of the things that we would say are important for leadership. And the last thing i want to talk about is how this history is relevant for black history. You know black history also, like tubman in some ways, has been treated quite lightly, black history moments, the month and then were finished. And yet if we take that history much more seriously, if we examine the fundamental message inside of black history, without all the trappings of power and status and even education that muddies the water, we understand that black history has a great deep important lesson for all of us to learn. Once we get away from thinking about slaves and all of the ways in which black history has been maligned. So all the more lessons that our society wants to learn that we derive from greek tragedies or asaups fabales, we do not have to go to the greeks. You talk about throwing a rock up a hill . We have other stories we can think about in terms of black history. We can go deeper. We need apply the higher ordered thinking as we examine her moral fortitude, her compassion, her altruism. Shes one of the worlds great humanitarians. All of these embodied within tubmans life. And i invite you to think about her with a renewed depth and a much greater understanding that theres so much you can derive from your own life from studying this womans history and from studying black history. Thank you. [ applause ] this building so important to me and a number of others because a number of years ago i wont say how many i was young and we were doing what was considered impossible. African American Family history. And because of this building i was able to chronicle an enslaved little girl who came at age 8 just after the american revolution. I was able to document her three sons, the oldest of which was peyton, who would have three wives and 33 children in total. It was so important that these records were here and that these records literally helped me reframe my own Family History and would lead to the creation of the African American historical and genealogy society. As one of its founders we look to people like tubman in the wider world issues and were grounded in our own family stories. Tubman, like the women in my family, three generations of which were enslaved and again these records here help document their lives. Tubman was a woman who was direct and serious and has been a National Symbol for African American women. People like me who were hearing about her passing it on to i have a lovely god daughter, monica black stn taughten always reading stories like this down to my own daughter and granddaughter. But Harriet Tubman, like a fellow marylander, Fredric Douglas, is regarded as a far reading leader of enormous and enduring influence. Her long life allowed her to transend simply being a personality. It has inspired African Americans and others to learn from the world over what was it like for this woman and others from that day to this . Their subtle anal seize about everything Harriet Tubman touched in maryland in particular. They love to talk about period of significance. So keeping it in that period of significance, we can understand that Harriet Tubmans story requires a masterful blend of scholarship and public history. Public history being the program that i direct at Howard University. Were comfortable with scholar reading book but its important for us to get out and take it to a wider audience. One of my ph. D. Grads. This Ground Breaking park creates new understanding. This wonderful landmark figure and the story of her curages life. Kelly smith wrote about the pseudo science of the era that focussed on women and the weaknesses and included African Americans. But more than anything else Harriet Tubman helps us understand that it was strength that would carry her forward. Frequently when you teach students, they immediately talk about revenge. Why didnt people strike out and take different options . Harriet tubmans story helps us understand how she pushed for equality and opportunity, rather than revenge and she made it work. During her many, many, many, many travels back to take people into freedom and her push for liberation. The tension between properties which she was and liberty, which she always sought was always very, very serious. She always went back into maryland to help people escape but she was also unwilling to accept this system and she literally indicted this enslavement system and that conduct of its owners. She refused to accept the concocted stories about the enslaved person and what she did was not only in her life reflected, she, at the end of her life, even wrote about it. So to be clear, the message was lucid, what history really was for her. As i said one of the things, take the story wider, and Howard University has a grant that goes beyond Harriet Tubman, this individual and helps us center her in this Wider Community and one person i discovered was a man william koulderhead, who had been a war revolutionary soldier and received a land grant in lieu of pay. He immediately sold it and i was reading his obituary. He immediately sold it and inspite of his many acts of bravery, he said the most important thing for him to do was go back to carolyn county and lived out his life in dorchester. There are many people, who like tubman, whether free or enslaved and this whole issue of Cultural Landscapes is important and its so moving because the Cultural Landscapes help us understand how the environment can influence and shape an individual. A Cultural Landscape can be associated with an event. It can be thousands of acres or a tiny homestead. It can be grand, small, a park, a garden, a cemetery, a campus and more. Cultural landscapes are works of art. Narratives of culture and expressions of an identity. One of the most important and indearing Cultural Landscapes are found in north carolina. Theyre the box pines of north carolina. And African American not only escaped there for freedom but after freedom they worked there removing the tar and the substances from the trees and one of the things that was unbelievable to me, being a person enslaved in virginia were these vs they put on all the trees and as they pulled the sap forward, it created an important Cultural Landscape and Natural Resource important for us today p. Just as we see those marks on the trees, just as i learned the foot frints left by me for peyton johnson, we see that Harriet Tubman went over mountains and hills, planes, and most importantly used the stars to guide herself and her people to freedom. But it wasnt just this one group that she took. It is so wonderful when youre at this site to see how the site helps you understand this journey that each of us take and how each of us move in our own way to freedom, justice and a new soechuisance of liberty. Thank you very much. [ applause ] id like to ask my co panelist marcy if you could explain how is the area preparing for us in terms of the national and regional visitorship and i saw pictures of destination sites and we have to make it an enjoyable experience. Can you talk about how on the ground and in the Community Maryland tourism are working to make it happen . Sure and just to step back in time a little bit, july of this year the city of cambridge, which is really the gateway city to tubmans home base burned. It was a city full of hate, sadness and it was a very much part of a divided community. So for literally 50 years later, you have flipped that on its head, took work not only by governmental institutions but it took drive and determination by the people of dorchester and all over the shore. So its a large responsibility to host visitors from close by, far away and across oceans. So weve prepared by some obvious things. We have this wonderful Visitor Center thats going to open. The driving tour that takes people beyond those walls and puts them in that story telling landscape in a way that isnt done in many other places. And what i think is the most remarkable of how weve prepared is that we have done some Work Force Development training, tour guide training proprograms. We worked with our Partner Institution and we had professor there help write the curriculum and we offered this training class to dorchester and Caroline County residents only. Those are the two counties that are host and home to the Harriet Tubman underground byway. We thought it was very important to give the people of marylands Eastern Shores the first opportunity to take this type of training because we wanted to empower them to take the story to the next level and if they chose to be independent story tellers, that they had the opportunity to do that. So not only have we invested in infrastructure of the built kind, weve invested in people who are willing to take the time to learn more and share this story. As we get close to the opening of the Visitor Center, weve taken the training to the next level. Weve launched what were calling a business certified host program. And any business that will bow effected by people coming in to learn more about tubman, were asking them to do a few simple things. Watch a video that talks about the importance of hosting visitors from around the world and in particular on the Eastern Shore. Sometimes its not so welcoming to people from the outside. So we wanted to make sure that insomebody came and they werent dressed the way they were perceived to be dressed or they had an accent or they got frustrated, believe it or not with the Farm Equipment that rolls through that agarrian landscape. The people of dorchester and Caroline County had an opportunity to understand that when you invite people from all over the world to come and see what you have to offer, theres an opportunity to tell them stories and if you choose, grow your businesses or bring them into your museums and help continue on the story. So its a very its a relatively easy certification to have. So not only do we want the it residents and the Business People of the Eastern Shore to capitalize on this opportunity, we want to make sure that people that are coming from near and far are welcome into that community because ill tell you thinking back 60 years ago, it wasnt always the case. Thats a very good portrait of american small town. We have microphones on either side of the aisle. We really want to make this conversational between you as well as us on stage. If anybody has a question theyd like the go to either microphone, please make your way there. So for our second round of questions in terms of the panelists and classrooms, how do you think that can be for a student to learn, both domestic and international student, what kind of take away should they have, not only at the College Level but the elementary level. Because we have to grow into it. How do you see that working for elementary and high school domestic and international. When i talk about an African American critical geography. We should have had this a long time ago because so much of the experience is embedded in the Political Landscape and we dont have the luxury of having all of the books and things. Its one of the places i began to develop my landscape theory and when you think about how African Americans particularly on the underGround Railroad, this is a way to learn geography, math, to learn orientation about astronomy. When you think about all of the different components, this is how, when i talk about using African American history in a fuller and richer way, this is one of the things that im talking about. So when you get to the High School Level and College Level, im working with another Government Agency to look at how many of these African American experiences because what im finding is that even there were woefully lacking in those that help us f maps that help us understand our world and our geography. And the landscape of the Eastern Shore is a Great Laboratory to begin to talk about it when you look at tubmans estate if you know who seabert is, he mapped the underGround Railroad. He doesnt accurately map much of the african involvement in the underGround Railroad. Map makers do not necessarily think about some of the episodes to use for typeographic information. Id like to say traveling last summer my grandchildren ages 10 and 7, they were captivated by the fact that there was this inseparable connection and ties between the people and the land on the Eastern Shore and i think just as i said with the African Americans, who in north carolina, who were in fact marking these trees, it made me think what are the ways we can find the markings left by Harriet Tubman on her Cultural Landscape . What is this vital fluid enables they were getting it for sap, what is this vital fluid that we feel is palpable when youre on the Eastern Shore, not just adults. Children feel it. So i think theres a vitality and an energy thats so important. And as they help me understand, humans are always transforming the landscape. Theyre always transforming their environment. Whether its building new houses, people or as my granddaughter was always reminding us the rain forest issue. But i think when we understand how this collection of land forms so powerfully resonates from people who visit there, it is just a very moving experience and in particular im so glad that the architect and those responsible allowed it as we were moving into evening to allow everything in the landscape to speak to you and they were understanding and seeing how all of this its a way of nsdsing the environment and appreciating it in a park setting and its wonderful. I hope everyone will take the time to visit. Thank you. Good evening, everybody. This is great information. So far. And im just curious. Weve talked about critical geography and trees and land. Im wondering about water and so the role of maybe rivers, streams those kind of aspects of the landscape and what role they play in the underGround Railroad, one, and for Harriet Tubman as well. Can you mention your name since were going to be on cspan. My name is reggie chapel, im the chief of the office of partnerships and fill anthraphy of the National Park service. I can start. You all probably have something to say. Dorchester and were talking about the Eastern Shore. Were talking about the chesapeake bay, rivers. Remember that you cannot, except for small strip between maryland and pennsylvania, you have to cross a major body of water to get out of slavery. The ohio, whatever, theres going to be a river. For tubman, because she worked on the water ways for so much of her life, she had an intimate relationship with water. Its much faster to travel by water than on foot. So a lot of these trips shes taking, a waterway is involved. Ive been on the waterway tour with a great friend, triten whos passed now and tubman had a very deep and important understanding with the water. And so theres a book called blackjacks and in that he spends a lot of time talking about the relationship to water and im sure my fellow panelists have even more to say. Its a subject unto itself. And when you look at that video, the travel video, you see how much the water plays into the travel experience. Along the chesapeake and up the rivers. And again to get out on the water and to see the land from the water is a completely different perspective than experiencing the water from the land. And for me, personally, that represents changing perspectives dramatically because when you do that, you change the way you understand things. Its like weve all been taught that American History starts when the colonists got here. And if you look from the west to the east, its a very, very different story than when you look from our eastern part of the United States to the west. So i urge you, when you come and visit, because i know kwlou will, to get out and take a kayak tour, get on the dorchester that you saw there and get your narrative of what it was like to be on a skip jack during tubmans time. And escaping with children. Its much more arduous on land. We have an escape out of dorchester where a family of six leaves on good friday and they have a head start because all easter weekend people are not paying attention and not until monday or tuesday people realize they were gone. And almost 100 positive they went by boat. You have a questioning to my left . Yes. Im sharon mitchell. And id like to thank the panel and the archives for having such a wonderful evening for us. My question is about continuing to understand Harriet Tubmans role as she moved out of dorchester and Southern Maryland up into baltimore, which is where im from. And some years back i met dr. Luroesh when we were trying to look at underGround Railroad sites in brooklyn, which thought they had no part of the underGround Railroad and that turned out to be quite contrary thanks to dr. Larochs approach to looking at things. In baltimore i was consulting with a church about a property they had acquired and met with the cong regnts about what theyd like to see happen and what i kept hearing was about their homes part of the underGround Railroad and this property was as well. And we hear stories and we start to see, especially since ive read his book, activity that has been nondocuments in traditional terms of Harriet Tubmans activity in baltimore. So im curious if you have a way to start helping that get integrated into the site down at the Eastern Shore. How does she bring people up through the city some and further north . Its very important and one of the persons in here, dr. Betty gardner did a wonderful study on the impact of baltimore and there are a number of studies that help us understand that as a city, a city that had a great deal of water and activity and a large free African American community, there was this interface, one of the realities of public historians are constantly pushing against are the stipulations that in some ways are being imposed on sites for the underGround Railroad. For example we worked on an escaped individual said they hid in the cemetery and it was documented in several other narratives. But unfortunately it didnt meet the criteria of those who are certifying underGround Railroad sites and i think theres going to be a tension because there are many ways, as youre seeing and youre experiencing that people involve themselves with the underGround Railroad that may not meet this somewhat for me as a public historian, art official test but the people know the history. The people lead the oral records and there has to be a way of getting these stories in and then allowing these stories, like the story of my own family. This was about a year before roots, to stand on its own. There were four living relatives of the slave telling the history. Eventually i was able to, in the virginia archives to certify some of it, but if none of it was ever corroborated, when will we let these stories stand on their own . And i know thats touchy for the park service and other organizations that are stipulating and creating these and theyre very important ways of documenting and affirming. But people running away didnt they were breaking the law. So i think as this new way of understanding and being sensitive to history, as history changes and is more embracing, im hoping that more of these homes and churches and other environments that inclurding cemeteries where people would hide during the day and then they ran at night. How in the world are we going to expand our sense of how this run away story has to include more nontraditional sources and resources. The waterways and lakes. We have to be able to look for foot prints in some cases that dont exist but we have to be tenacious enough to believe the stories of the people and build on those stories. Not simply saying these are the stipulations, you meet them. There have to be new ways of doing this. One of the things i feel ive pushed the envelope around some of the criteria. And thats evident if you look in the new way. And i have been pushing successfully i would say about how to use oral history effectively. I jokingly say everywhere i go. This is what i know about oral history. Theres going to be something thats wrong. The fact is wrong, the wrong date. Its going to be as we say jacked up. Theres going to be something the matter with the history. However, the event actually happened. And so with history, if historians find one fallacy, they like to the throw out the whole argument. If i find an oral history thats completely accurate, i know its not what i want. Im looking for that tension. So there are ways to use oral history respauonse effective and the landscape effectively and trace those oral storease and believe the people when they tell you. So theres a tendency to oo call people liars because we dont accept the history that they give us. And i see a number of young people here. If it youre looking for a great viable topic to study Harriet Tubman in baltimore is it. Because if even if you look in kates book, she glosses over baltimore. And we know shes operating out of baltimore for anybody who needs a thesis or dissertation or a senior seminar paper, Harriet Tubman is it. If youre looking for the congregation composed of the business owners. You actually have a human bridge of organizational connection and genealogy that you have these overlapping you make these contacts and very then threads. They lay these human bridges. And they hid among the sioux population. We have documentary evidence on that. Id like to work with you on that. We could talk. I think thats fascinating. Yard like to add one point. There are a number of scholars in particular who i had oral history who had studied under the worlds best historians and he always said people will write a lie quicker than theyll tell a lie. Every written document is not correct either. So i ask people to give oral history as much respect as the written document and work to kraub corroborate but dont jus they dont know what theyre talking about because theres a lot of important everyday that gets missed because people want again those sure stipulations and in a sense easy way of researching. But i invite people as youre doing, talk to people, go into communities and understand those vital resources wherever they are. And new ways, obituaries, fl are all kinds of records you can use that help you understand what youre hearing but at least be sensitive and open to listening. And if i may just ask is the maryland Tourism Organization doing anything in that regard . With baltimore . Yes. Well, we have in the past. And we are going to reinvigorate our efforts. We have this opportunity to get stories told state wide. So were going to head back out into the communities and reinvigorate our effort to get more stories told because more stories there are to share and i think thats really important. Because thats what inspires people to travel. I know this sounds hokey but we really want to keep the efforts moving forward to get these stories told in time for 2020, which is the release of the 20 so being a crafts tourism marketer as i am had, we want to use those opportunities to be in the media in a positive fashion as one of those milestones. Im happy to give you my card before you leave tonight and i will certainly keep you posted if you want to get in touch with me because we would love to have furtherer conversations with anybody willing to come to the table. Thank you for your patience, sir. Akhmed, im very pleased to be here. As i listen to you talk about alternative sources, the president is a big manufacturer of alternative sources, so you want to be careful how you put that out there. Serious. As i hear you talk about the impact of the environment, and i listen to tourism and talk about flipping it on its head. To what extent is the experience of African Americans in slavery been kind of flipped on its head by the kind of inenvironments that we keep people in . If you look in most areas where the underGround Railroad took our people to, theyre mostly urban. Theyre mostly still kind of ghetto. And it i will submit to you was intentional. If you see the connection, if you will for the need for a new underGround Railroad . Im not sure if it thats pertinent to what were talking about but i understand what your intention is in terms of history being reflected in the Current Situation and making those connections. There is a discussion going on that the ban of immigrants, that theres going to be a new underGround Railroad for the immigrant population for the fear of being deported. So theres a buzz being in the temporary situation by threat of deportation. As far as African Americans concerned, i would go to the critical geography discussion. African American Communities being destroyed, warehoused in public housing. So it wasnt intentional that they moved into ghetto areas. They move under to enclave of familiarators. They were mixed of lawyers, doctors, and laborers. That wasnt until you had the economic sucked out and theres an orchestrated effort to make that an improv rshed housing. So when you have a situation thats pushing and pulling and i would suggest work on philadelphia in particular, the destruction of a neighborhood systematically creates an implosion on that community and were looking at that now, the gentrification doing the broom j making it pretty again. Map any of these situations. Redlining. You can look at the introduction of the railroad, you can look at urban renewal, almost anything when you map it. You begin to see that there is a chess game isnt the right way to put it. But African Americans are sequestered. Sometimes in black communities theres one way in and one way out. And when you take that birds eye view and look down, there are things still parallel to what youre talking about. I just had a long conversation with a woman whos immigrant and there are parallels starting to take place around the underGround Railroad and people in modern day and for women. Women are struggling in particular ways and your question is i think a difficult one to answer and yet well placed and i do see parallels. Thank you. Good afternoon. My name is dr. Hujens and im very happy to be here today. Im just would like to thank the lord, thank the panel, thank National Archives for this event. Im just so hammy to see this come to fruition. I love the nickname of nanty and just so happy to see this come to fruition. I just had some comments and maybe a question or two. I did participate, went to the Harriet Tubman museum in Eastern Shore some years ago and i saw a flyer there. And at that particular time they were advertising to come to capitol hill to talk to a congressman about the project here. So i did participate in that and i really lost track and havent really been keeping up with things but recently i saw this particular flyer about this event tonight. Im really happy about happy to be here and i would like to know when is the park opening in Eastern Shore and what about the inn of the National Park, the other end of the project in new york . And i think i had another question but i cant think of it right now. Sure. So the park opens march 11th. Which is a saturday and theres lots of great programming on the 11th and 12th all throughout the weekend. The park in auburn has been authorized. Its going to be the Harriet Tubman National Historic park as compared to the underGround Railroad park. And that is a much more recent development and so i dont know yet when that will beopen on the public per se but on any given day, if the church is open, you can see the grave sites, the museum where her house was when she was a humanitarian is open there now. And so i forgot. Do crow hayou have another ques . It was harriet on the hill. That was our initiative, our project to get the park authorized in maryland and new york. Are you involved in that . I sure was. What is your name again . Marcy ross. Thank you so much. God bless you. Im alicia cohen. Im from louden county in virginia. And we have several underGround Railroad sites and Fredric Douglas is from the Eastern Shore also. There are statues of him and all kinds of monuments and plaques. So i was wondering from the scholars if there was any was there any relationship between Harriet Tubman and Fredric Douglas . Did they know each other . The plantations where they lived . Because i dont know how close they were. We dont find documentation that they knew each other while they were on the Eastern Shore. But there is a newspaper article in forgive me i cant remember the date Fredric Douglas talks about how when she comes through with some escapees. So, yes, they do know each other. There is this relationship and she is relying on him to help her move her cargo its one of those words her pasmpgers through the underGround Railroad. But its not a relationship that is terribly public during the time. Id invite you to remember that Samuel Cornish was a missionary on the Eastern Shore for a time. So several newspapers have information about this Eastern Shore during this period of significance. Id also ask you to remember that as these individuals are interacting with each other, theyre breaking the law. So much of what they do in support and in support of each other and working within the network they create and expand, its outside of the legal system and until almost 1866, their citizenship is in question. So theyre not going to leave an extensive record. Its inferred in many documents. And i think the Maryland Hall of records has a number of very good records that help us understand it. But id ask us to be a bit more patient and understanding thatd what theyre doing had to be outside of the law. They had to be extremely careful with everything that they did. And so even down to writing about it even in later periods, it was very sensitive. And you can laugh but when doing oral history with individuals who four had fwo29 brothers and sisters. The older one, one escaped. And you can laugh but the people i was interviewing, i interviewed, they were sworn to secrecy because they believed they could go back this was in the 1980s they could go back and get the relatives of these children and reenslave them. You cannot understand people who grew up in this era. That this belief of this system of enslavement was numbing and even though we can be sophisticated about it. These four believed in their hearts somehow that this system could still reach out and get them. We have to be sensitive to how real enslavement was for individuals. Goodness knows for Harriet Tubman and Fredric Douglas. I have one more question for marcy related to tourism because i work with the journey to hollow ground throughout five states on the western end of virginia, pennsylvania, and just like your system, theres economics around that and so were having people come to visit a site and i guess my question is is the Visitors Group and the chamber of commerce working with African American businesses to take advantage of the increase in economy that the money that comes in . Because the Visitors Center and most chamber of commerces they look at these sites to generate an increase in Economic Standing in the area. And so as a visitor, i always look at is there some place, can i shop . Are my dollars going to turn over several times and unfortunately when i go to places as an easten, i dont think i ever found an African American business in easten but im standing in front of Fredric Douglas in front of the koert house. Is there any component within the plans of this total tourism activity which would help Small Businesses in the area to benefit . Absolutely. We through the certified business host program were engaging all businesses as much as possible and in fact, theres leadership in the city of cambridge in particular from the African American community to help the state, which can sometimes be mistrusted as government, actually have entre into those communities and into those businesses because sometimes the mistrust can out weigh the desire to advance or move on. So, yes, were working with African American businesses, all businesses and particular on the midshore in maryland, there is a private sector Small Business Development Center that has done extensive out reach under ospss of the opportunity to grow tourism businesses to help amplify what it is that were doing. Absolutely. Im going to ask for the next three questions to be asked in succession. And then well have the panelists make a suggestion of who can answer. Sure. So erick carbareski. One of my personal heroes, my understanding is she met Harriet Tubman once during the civil war. My question is, is she mentioned at all in the Visitors Center. I know shes not a marylander. Table that. Your question. Im a freshman at the gorge washington universe and with the president s seemingly limited knowledge on prominent figures like Frederik Douglas and dr. King, what kind of role can my generation play in continuing those . Im dr. John and im a volunteer at the smithsonian and National Museum of civil war in medicine. I get involved in the tv show, mercy street and i know underground, another tv show they have cast and actors to play Harriet Tubman for the next season. Many of you been consulted and if so, what do you think their take is going to be on Harriet Tubman . Because they tend to over draums it the underGround Railroad in the first season and i just signed up for the march 11th theres a bus trip up to the Visitors Center, an all day bus trip. I think they still have places available. Great. So we have questions. We have a question from a Freshman Student and of course how because time is heritage tourism is an important part of what we are now doing in history, particularly in public history. So, i think your question is very jermaine. We have to understand how history has to make sense and engage. One of the things, again, traveling with two grandchildren, they love the fact that there are the junior ranger programs and coloring books. So, there are ways to engage individuals. Again, because so much dealt with the waterways, you get that energy. I would also add that while we dont always like to be very supportive of Popular Culture taking historical questions, sometimes we need to be very glad because it at least gets it out to a wider audience. So, i think that even if its not always totally correct, that at least it has people looking at these images and thinking about them, and even the person who is a journalism student who was finally won over to history [ laughter ] you can see how there is this possibility of taking Something Like journalism and how its history just usurps it and moves it on forward. I saw you reaching for something. I would say that i know we addressed tubman and the civil war and her contribution to the civil war. To be honest, i dont quite recall how much of the Sojourner Truth is told. I dont think its told at all in the Visitors Center because the subman and underground Railroad Story its not just tubman. Its lots of underground Railroad Stories. To me, that would be an inspiration. For you to start a movement to figure out how we get that done, whether its maryland or anywhere else. And with regard to our leadership in the white house today, and at any time you find people who whatever [ laughter ] i say, again, keep ever moving forward. Use the principles of Harriet Tubman that we heard so eloquently today to overcome that kind of obstacle and that kind of, you know, enslavement of words and be inspired and use those. And what can young people do . From a mother of a 25yearold and 24yearold, get out from behind your screens. Go to the places where these things actually happened, whether its the Eastern Shore for the underGround Railroad or its the grand canyon to look over, because there is no place like being there. And you simply cant get the sense of all of this by sitting at your screens and keeping your noses and your heads in your screens. Get out and put your feet where the in those authentic places where the things actually happened. Ill take the opposite view and say particularly for African Americans when were doing these things, the digital humanity is the hottest thing out there. So, if youre looking for an area of study, go into the digital humanities. We need you because everything that we do now, were relatively old. [ laughter ] so, you know, were not that great with technology. And, so, theres scanning documents, theyre transcribing documents. You dont go to the archives. All of these archivists are trying to get you not to come. They dont want to see you. They dont want you to handle their stuff. Theyre scanning it. So, its very important because if you have the digital training or the it training bull you dont have t but you dont have the history, youre not serviceable to us. We need you to have the historical piece, the geography piece and the it piece. That is really critical for the work that were doing. So, i would invite you to marry those things, wed those things together so that you could really be effective in the work that we all do. I want to thank the audience for staying with us through all the closed doors and thank our panelists. [ applause ] on American History tv in primetime friday night, former white house staffers on Richard Nixons life after he was president. Well hear about the nixon frost interviews. President nixons meetings in china and his memorandum war. Thats at 8 00 p. M. Eastern here on cspan 3. Saturday is earth day and well cover the march for science rally including speeches with scientists and civic organizers as well as musical performances. Live from the National Mall in washington, d. C. At 10 00 a. M. Eastern on our companion network cspan. Sunday night on afterwards. Congressman ken buck of colorado, also a member of the freedom caucus, discusses his book drain the swamp how washington corruption is worse than you think. When you arrive in d. C. And you have the surroundings that ive described earlier, you get very comfortable in that situation, and you dont want to give up those comforts. And the way to continue to earn those comforts is to spend more money and to grow government and to not solve problems, but to create programs and take credit for those programs. Whether theyre efficient, whether theyre effective, to take credit for those programs. And, so, many of the members of congress are here. Its the best job theyve ever had. Its the highest paying job theyve ever had and its a job that they dont want to give up. And, so, their reelection is more important than the actual problemsolving that needs to go on in d. C. Watch afterwards sunday night at 9 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan 2s book tv. Harriet tubman was born a slave in door chester counsel, maryland in 1842. She escaped in 1849 but returned many times too assist her family and others in their escape to freedom. The Maryland Park service and the National Park service have partnered in creating the Harriet Tubman underGround Railroad Visitor Center located in the county where tubman was born. Next, the Opening Ceremony of the Harriet Tubman underGround Railroad Visitor Center. We hear from state and local officials in commemoration of the abolitionist, humanitarian and civil war spy, Harriet Tubman. This is an hour. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Yes, my name is d dr. Adjoa tano and it is a pleasure for me to be here to open up todays great occasion with a lie bags. The libation ill be performing come from the people of ghana, west africa. It is an ancient form of prayer that i will speak in the language of tri, and i will continue in the language of english. You will