She learned the skills that were vital to make her a successful conductor on the underground railroad. She was reading the landscape, foraging for food, reading the stars, being comfortable outdoors by herself. I would like to highlight our Visitor Center. This building is lined in cedar which is a reference to her time in the field with her father. These last three buildings are lined in zinc. The idea is that after you visit our Visitors Center, your ignorance about her retirement life and the underground railroad will fade as well. We have a vegetative roof on the flat surfaces, you can see the one on the far south. It helps us keep the Visitor Center warm in the winter and cool in the summer. We also have rain barrels to collect that excess water and we use it to water our vegetation. We also have photovoltaic light, we turn them off at night to do programs and also we have a concern on light pollution. The light is filtered downwards. So you can enjoy the night sky. And the far end of the park, we have a barrel that collects our water and filters it. A largeportant because portion of the park is in a critical area. The view north, is in our design plan, and when you enter the park, you came in through the south and walked out north, to begin your experience. You walk into our Visitor Center and then head north, just like Harriet Tubman did. This area opens up to our legacy gardens, highlighting the view north. North book represented openness during tubmans time, north represented openness. Every time she would be standing there, should be pointing north to freedom, out in the distance heading towards their freedom. When you enter the Visitor Center, you look north and you see it is open and very bright. Thanks to this wall there. When you are finished with the experience of this portion of the Visitor Center, you look south and it is closed and dark. Again, done on purpose to represent the south, with slavery and the north being open and free. The north is very important to us, it is our most important interpretive tool. The park is 17 acres, we are rounded by Blackwater National wildlife refuge which is about 20,000 acres and the preserve this bit of all landscape the east the. To ensure that when you look around you see pines and seeders and you can see the Blackwater River over there and the first in this area which is also preserved. When you drove down here, you probably took route 16 and read 235, route 16 and route 235 rid this helps us to preserve the landscape. When you came down here, you probably so cornfields, sewing, sorghum, all around you in various stages of growth. The landscape again is very important. The way that it looks now is very similar to the way would have looked in harriet termans time. Here, thated a right was north end of that was south, that is west, you would be able to navigate in the area because it looks similar. This is a map of the Harriet Tubman underground railroad byway, over 120 miles long. It includes maryland, delaware and pennsylvania. We are meant to be the hub right here of the byway. You come here to learn about Harriet Tubmans life. I would like for you to meet our bust of Harriet Tubman. It is indeed, lifesize. In was about five feet tall real life and this bus is also five feet tall, made by rounded oneill. By a dust it was made it was made by brendan oneill. As you can see, the chains are broken to represent the bonds of slavery that ms. Tubman rule along the underground railroad. You can see the scarring on her back, scars from the floggings she received in her life. She was very strong, she could do the work of a man, so her muscular stature is also visible. Oak is a reference it wastime in maryland, standing for about 400 years before it fell down. This cedar was chosen because it adds that harold texture and shows texture and strength. It also referenced her time in the fields of her father outside, and the Visitors Center first building is aligned in reader as well. As you can see, she is lifting north that she is facing symbolizing her search for freedom. Startingn see, we are in the south heading towards the northern hour tour, just like harriet time in it in her journeys on the underground railroad. The ceiling and the floor and the siding also make you look from south to north, very symbolic. Is reclaimed barn wood from the Eastern Shore of maryland, again, a reference to her time in the timber fields. This section of the tour highlights the juxtaposition of tubmans life. The images you see here show the beauty of the river region, as well as the ugliness of slavery. In thistaman was born river region where she learned the skills and decided to become a successful conductor on the underground railroad. This section takes you through a day in her life. This saves slavery is of the next thing to help. If a person would send another into bondage, he would send them to hell if he could. Again, these are images of the tank river region. Behind it, you can see eight images of Harriet Tubman on it. This next section here shows the ugliness of slavery and that families were torn apart i slavery. This is an image of the Dorchester County courthouse, showing a mother eating sold away from her child and husband. Sisters were sold in slavery early in her life and it took her family apart. Onewest sense to a chain gang. Taman remembers her whales and cries as they were sold. Tamans mother never recovered from that, and it shows the ugliness of slavery, breaking apart families. This is a good section to ofhlight, the layout the exhibit. Most of the exhibits have a quote or an image of harriet taman on the top and textile panels. To bextile panel is meant touched as well so that you can see and touch what you are reading. Liberty, having no experience, i was not happy or contented. It shows an slave children with no shoes, very little clothing, doing farm work. It highlights the fact that fishing and oyster and, timber and corn were the important crops found here in this region. This next section talks about tom and earliest memories. The first thing i recall is lying in a cradle that my father made. This is a recreated cradle. When a child was born in that time, a tree was chopped down, hollowed out and he put down a headboard and foot toward and it was called the childs cradle. This shows the young Harriet Tubman and taking care of her little brother, moses. She is about four years old here, and she had to take care of her little brother while her mother worked in the big house. Tubman has fond memories of these days, but i cannot imagine a mother worrying about her baby to the care of her other baby. Steadman told the story of how the baby was worrying as she was crying, so she got a slab of pork and she warmed it on the fire and put it on the babys mouth, and the baby stopped crying. So that when the mother came asked, she saw a piece of work hanging out and she thought that her daughter had killed the baby, but it was just a piece of work. It is a funny story, because if you put a piece of bacon in my mouth, i would stop talking as well. Everyext quote says time i saw a white man, i was afraid of being carried away. I had two sisters carried away in a chain game, one of them left to children. This highlights the fact that her sisters were sold away to a chain gang, never seen again. This textile panel, again, shows tubman and her little brother. This is a map of the area that we are in right now, it shows Dorchester County, you probably came through chambers when you came over and you crossed the top tank river. We are in this area here. Tubman was born in this district right here, and it during her time it was known as the back of the stick. This image right here shows the road that you came in on. The road that she was born on. The next thing i would highlight is tamans work. This shows harriet taman at a checking muscat. They are rodents which were common in the area. They were chucked in the late fall or early winter, and they. Ere caught for their you can see that she is deep in water, without shoes are a hat, absolutely miserable. The quote says, i used to sleep on the floor, cry and cry, if i could only get home and get in my mothers bed, the drive to go home and be with her family members within Harriet Tubman was in her from a very early age. The next section i would like to highlight is the Bucktown Village store. Harriet determine was as a withger went to the store the plantation cooks. An angry overseer was there. Tubman walked in and there was a runaway slave. Tubman was asked to grab the slave and she said no. The overseer threw something at the slave and instead knocked tubman out. She said the last thing she remembered was him raising his hand with the weight in it. She received no medical care, she was taken out of the store and take it nextdoor. Made her owner made her go to work the next day. She said she tried to work but she had so much bloody sweat dripping over her eyes. Her owner decided, she was not doing any work, i will try to sell her. So he brought people into poke and prod at her watch you is trying to recover. When she could not be sold, he said, you are not even worth that you are not even worth anything. That was a hard time for Harriet Tubman and it opened up a new world for her. She got epilepsy, which allowed her to have this amazing visions , she heard people singing, voices, seeing Amazing Things and having vivid dreams. It was terrible on the physical side, but great for her mental health. This is a quote from Thomas Garrett who was pivotal on the underground railroad, a quaker up in wilmington who helped 3000 runaways receive their freedom. He said i never met any arson of color who had so much confidence in the voice of god. Her faith in the supreme power was truly great. White male, landowning quaker to say that about a black woman in that time if volumes about her faith. The next section we highlight his the timber fields. During Harriet Tubman time, about half of the blacks in slavester county were and this shows her working in the timber fields. There can be free or enslaved men working. She worked in the timber fields with her father. This shows Harriet Tubman in stuart cannell, and what happened was that the tumor would be cut and then floated on the canal to timber medicine madison, to baltimore where it would be shipped there. This allowed tubman to do more from thery more timber timber fields of Dorchester County to the ship rolled in town. That is what this shows here, come in. Also highlights the importance of tubman being outside, where she learned how to forge for food, rid of the woods at night. These were skills she needed during the underground railroad. Most of her escapes were done at night during the fall and winter when the nights were the longest. It was a very important time for her, when got to work outside with her family and friends, most likely her brothers and her father. This next section we are going to talk about is top mens tubmans self emancipation. In 1849, she got the feeling that she would be sold. As mentioned earlier, she had lost Three Sisters very early on and she did not want to be sold. This shows Harriet Tubman in caroline county, opening the gate as she is going to leave. Her owner comes home, and comes on the horse. She opens the gate for him, closes the gate behind him and continues to sing her goodbye song, as she walks to her freedom. It is significant because she was singing the goodbye song so that she could goodbye to her family and friends to muscle that they would know that she was leaving and not to be worried. After she got to freedom, she said when i found out i had crossed the line, i looked at my has to see if i was the same person. There was such a glory over everything. The sun shone like gold through the trees and a follicle was in heaven. This was her first taste of freedom, i thought like i was in heaven. She moved to philadelphia to make money to come back and give her family and friends. The next section is called the journey, and it is supposed to show our journey on one night of the underground railroad. There is a quote over here that says i crossed the line, i was free, but there was no one to welcome me into the land of freedom. I was estranged in a strange land and my home was in maryland. Because my father, my mother, brothers and friends were there. Shouldi was free, they be free. I will make a home in the north, and bring them there. I say to the lord, i will hold steady on to you, and i know you will see me through. It shows that once she got to freedom, there was no one to welcome her there, she was alone because her friends and family were in maryland. Times toback at 12 save her family and friends, people she could not do without. The song you hear now is about that. You can see the names and lists of people that she rescued over 70 documented rescues, including moses roth, peter paddington. And others. This section talks about the northstar which tubman used to igate areas gods gave me tubman used to navigate. The mattershows that what season you are in, the northstar is that fast. It stays exactly where it always is. At the end of the big cup of the big dipper. Harriet tubman rescued over 70 family and friends from slavery in 12 journeys. Since she was unable to rescue her sister rachel and her children. Unfortunately, rachel died in bondage and her children were sold before tubman could rescue her. The quote says we are pleased that harriet succeeded in assisting him in a few of her suffering friends from bondage but her sister was not among the number. That is quoted from abolitionist de colins. Collins. This next section is about Harriet Tubmans communication with her brothers. She was illiterate. This man was an illiterate man and a veterinarian as well. Of the letter was written, and said, read my letter to the old folks and give my love to them and tell my brothers to always be watching under prayer. When the good old ship of his i am comes along, be ready to a board. The song you are hearing right now is the good old ship of zion. When he read the letter, he knew that it was government telling him to notify her brothers to be ready, though she was going to come back and rescue them. Jackson was a known operative on the underground railroad, he was not permitted to read his mail. So it was important to have this encoded message. The postmaster as well as a few other people had to read his mail before jackson could, they read it and it made no sense. But when he picked it up and looked at it, he was he said right, this makes no sense. At poplarr brothers in caroline county, and the hit in a cornfield. This is a regraded corn crib. They had to hide here and their father, took a blindfold on because he knew somebody would ask him, have you seen your children today. And as he was seen wearing a blindfold, he could say that he had not seen his children. He took for dan water to them. He took wear the food and water to them. Her family and friends had in here, otherwise, if they were gon, their mother would crazy and be excited and completely give them away. So the idea would that they would come in here and look through the slats and imagine what it would elect to not be able to say goodbye to your mother, and perhaps have that be the last time he saw her. Harriet tubman used a number of disguises. She knew she would be recognize when she got back to maryland. She is the disguise of an old woman, wearing a on it over her head, hunching over, carrying chickens when she saw her master one time, she saw him coming towards her. Off theked the feathers chicken and started shouting and screaming, it started squawking. She had to bend over and turn her back so that her master who was coming would not recognize her. Other enslaved people would also disguise themselves as men, if they were women or as women if they were men, and vice versa. She was disguise is very often. This section right here highlights the emancipation of her parents come a ban and be and ruth ross. She came down in the north to rescue her parents. Her father was a Railroad Agent and he she heard that he would probably be sold or punished. She came back before that would happen. Her parents were in their 70s and she knew that they could not walk a long way, so she made a wagon which is what this shows right here. It had two wheels, and axle, and a place for them to sit and a place for their feet. She tied it to a horse and she emancipated her parents. But her mother would not leave without her prized possessions, as well as her father. This is what this Beautiful Image is showing. Here, these columns are that are in the middle of the building highlight people that were important to the underground railroad and Harriet Tubmans network. Woman, sam as this green of east newmarket, william spill, Thomas Garrett, annemarie douglas, martha lockton, and of course, Frederick Douglass and henry garnet are highlighted. The next section i would like to talk about is tubmans time during the civil war. Harriet tubman was a scout, a spy and a nurse during the civil 1, 1863, sheune begin the only woman to plan and execute a armed raid. With Connell James montgomery, and the second North Carolina colored troops, they took three gunships, and you can see two of them. They went up the river, 25 miles into the depths of South Carolina. They burned plantations, flooded rice fields and emancipated them an hundred 50 to 800 people, there is significant because in tubmans time, people were of course, property. It was a huge loss to that slaveowners down there. It is showing Harriet Tubman in a smaller boat reaching dow