it was here in this area where she learned the skills that were vital to make her a successful conductor on the underground railroad. skills such as reading the landscape, foraging for food, walking through the woods 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 fields with her father. these last three buildings are lined in zinc. the idea is over time, it will and weather and begin to fade. the idea is that after you visit our visitor's center, your ignorance about harriet tubman's 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. that helps us keep the visitor center warm in the winter and cool in the summer. we also have rain barrels to collect the excess water and we use it to water our vegetation. we also have photovoltaic lights. we turn them off at night to do and also it helps to cut down on light pollution. the light is filtered downwards. so you can enjoy the night sky. the also have a pond at the far end of the park that collects our water and filters it. it is important because a large portion of the park is in a critical area. i would also like to highlight the view north which is in our design plan. when you enter the park, you came in through the south and walked 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. during tubman's time, north represented openness. the north was free but the south was enclosed and encumbered. statue ofad the harriet tubman that will be standing there pointing north toward freedom with figures out in the distance heading towards their freedom. when you enter the visitor center, you enter in the north. -- you enter in the south. as you look north, you see it is open and very bright. 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 surrounded by blackwater national wildlife refuge which is over 20,000 acres and the preserve this bit of all landscape. when you drove down here, you took route 16 and route 235, those are old native american roads. this helps us to preserve the landscape. when you came down here, you probably saw cornfields sorghum, , all around you in various stages of growth. you probably saw timber 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 terman's time. in theory if you placed her right here and gave her little orientation that was south and north 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. it is over 120 miles long. it also includes maryland, delaware, and pennsylvania. we are meant to be the hub right here of the byway. you come here to learn about harriet tubman's life. i would like for you to meet our bust of harriet tubman. very them part of this is that it is indeed life-size. she was about five feet tall in real life and this is also five feet tall. it was made by brendan o'neill. her name is at the bottom. as you can see, the chains are broken to represent the bonds of slavery that missed tubman broke miss broke in her life. 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. the piece of oak is a reference to her time in maryland, it was standing before about 460 years before it fell down. this cedar was chosen because it has that spiral texture and shows texture and strength. it is also a reference to her time in the fields of her father outside. and the visitors center first building is lined in cedar as well. as you can see, she is lifting north, that she is facing north symbolizing her search for freedom. we begin the tour. as you can see, we are starting in the south heading towards the north, 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. this wood is reclaimed barn wood from the eastern shore of maryland, again, a reference to her time in the timber fields. this first section of the tour highlights the juxtaposition of tubman's life. the images you see here show the beauty of the river region, as well as the ugliness of slavery. harriet tubman was born in this river region and this is where she learned the skills and to become a successful conductor on the underground railroad. this section immerses you in a day in her life. this says if a person would send another into bondage, he would send them to hell if he could. again, these are images of the river region. behind you, we have the law of tubman. 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 by slavery. this is an image of the dorchester county courthouse, showing the mother being sold away from her child and husband. tubman's sisters were sold in slavery early in her life and it broke her family apart. they were sold to a chain gang down south and were never heard from again. tubman remembers their cries as they were sold. harriet tubman's mother never recovered from that, and it shows the ugliness of slavery, breaking apart families. this is a good section to highlight the way our exhibits are laid out. most of the exhibits have a tubmany or about harriet . the textile panel is meant to be touched as well so that you can see and touch what you are reading. this says i grew up ignorant of liberty, having no experience, i was not happy or contented. it shows enslaved children with no shoes, very little clothing, doing farm work. it highlights the fact that fishing and oystering, timber and corn were the important crops found here in this region. this next section talks about tubman's earliest memories. the first thing i recall is lying in a cradle that my father made. this is a re-created cradle. when a child was born in that time, a tree was chopped down, hollowed out and you put down a headboard and foot toward and it was called the child's cradle. this shows the young harriet tubman taking care of her little brother, moses. she is about four years old if not younger. she had to take care of her little brother while her mother worked in the big house. tubman has fond memories of this, but i cannot imagine a mother worrying about her baby taking care of her other baby. tubman told the story of how the baby was worrying or crying, so she got a slab of pork and she warmed it on the fire and put it on the baby's mouth, and the baby stopped crying. when the mother came back, she saw it hanging out and thought her baby had killed the baby. it was just a piece of pork. it is a funny story, because if you put a piece of bacon in my mouth, i would stop crying as well. this next quote says -- every 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 children. twowe were always uneasy. this highlights the fact that her sisters were sold away to a chain gang, never seen again. this textile panel, again, shows young tubman and her little brother. this is a nice map of the area that we are in right now, it shows dorchester county, you probably came through chain bridge -- cambridge when you came over and crossed the river. we are in this area here. tubman was born in this district right here, and it during her time was known as tobacco stick. this image right here shows the road that you came in on. this shows the road that she was born on. the next thing i would highlight is tubman at work. this shows young harriet tubman at a very young age checking muskrat traps. they are rodents which were common in the area. they were checked in the late fall or early winter, and they were caught for their paelts. you can see that she is deep in water, without shoes 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 mother's bed, the drive to go home and be with her family members was within harriet tubman from a very early age. the next section i would like to highlight is the bucktown village store incident. when she was a teenager, she went to the village store with the plantation cooks. an angry overseer was there. tubman walked in and there was a runaway slave. the overseer said grab the slave. tubman said no. he picked up a week and through it. he meant to hit the slave. instead, he hit harriet tubman above her eye and knocked her 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 taken next-door where she bled. her owner made her go to work the next day. she said she tried to work but she could not because there was so much blood and sweat dripping over her eyes. her mother tried to help her recuperate. her owner decided she was not doing any work, i will try to sell her. so you brought people in two coke and private her. when she could not be sold, he said, you are not even worth six pence. we think she had temporal lobe epilepsy which allowed her to had amazing visions and vivid dreams. it was terrible on the physical side but amazing for her faith. about harrietalks tubman's face. 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 person of any color who had so much confidence in the voice of god. her faith in the supreme power truly was great. so, for a white male, landowning quaker to say that about a black tubman's time speaks volumes about her faith. the next section we highlight is tubman in the timber fields. during harriet tubman's time about half of the blacks in , dorchester county were free. 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. he was a respected timber foreman. this shows harriet tubman in stewart's canal. would be cut and then dragged through the woods or floated on the canal to timber towns where it would be processed and shipped to re.timore or used thei tubman was rented out. she kept some former self and this allowed her to do more work and carry more tender. that is what this shows. it also highlights the importance of tubman being outside, where she learned how to forage for food, read the landscape, become double in the woods at night, 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 and she 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 tubman's self -emancipation. in about 1849, she got the feeling that she would be sold. as mentioned earlier, she had lost three sisters very early on to the chain gang and she knew what that was like. she did not want to be sold. she is about to leave in this 1849. 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, he goes through, she 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 so 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 hands to see if i was the same person. there was such a glory over everything. the sun shone like gold through the trees and i felt like i was in heaven. this is tubman's first taste of freedom when she crossed over. she was able to spend time in philadelphia and make money to come back and get her family and friends. the next section is called the journey, and it is supposed to show the journey one night on 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 a stranger in a strange land and my home was in maryland. because my father, my mother, brothers, and sisters and friends were there. but if i was free, they should 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 did not feel welcome. she was alone because her friends and family were in maryland. she came back 12 times to save her family and friends, people she could not do without. the song you hear now is about the good old ship of zion. i will talk about that later. you can see the names and lists of people that she rescued over 70 documented rescues, including moses ross. this section talks about the northstar which tubman used to navigate. he gave me the strength and met i should be free. this is a movable piece that shows no matter matter what season you are in, the northstar is steadfast. 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. but 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 even a few of her suffering friends to escape from vonage but her sister was not among the number. is quoted by the abolitionist who was a friend of tubman's. the next section i would like to have highlight is about the emancipation of her brothers. she was illiterate. this was a landowner, illiterate man, and also a veterinarian. she arranged a code beforehand. when the letter was written, it said read my letter to the old folks and give my love to them and tell my brothers to always be watching unto prayer. zionthe good old ship of comes along, be ready to step aboard. the song you are hearing right now is "the good old ship of zion." when he read the letter, he knew that it was harriet tubman telling him to notify her brothers to be ready, that she was going to come back and rescue them. jacob jackson was a known operative on the underground railroad, so 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. when he picked it up and looked at it, he said right, this makes no sense. but he saw the text about the good old ship of zion so he knew to let her brothers know she was coming back for them. in carolinebrothers county. hid in a cornfield. this is a re-created corn crib. they had to hide here and their father put a blindfold on because he knew somebody would ask him, have you seen your children today. he could say he did not see them. their mother was cooking food and had prepared her home to see family and friends. they had to hide in here. sheheir mother saw them, would go crazy and be so excited she would give them away. the idea is people can come in here and imagine what it would have been like to not able to be say goodbye to your mother and have that perhaps be the last time you ever saw her. harriet tubman used a number of disguises. she knew she would be recognized when she got back to maryland. she was disguised as an older woman. she hunched over. she was walking along carrying chickens. she saw her former master coming towards her. she plucked the feathers off the chicken and it 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 used disguises pretty often. this section right here highlights the emancipation of her parents. in the spring of 1857, harriet tubman came down from the north to rescue her parents. her father was an underground railroad agent. and she heard he would probably be sold or punished. she came back to pick them up before that could happen. her parents were in their 70's and she knew that they could not walk north all the way, so she made a one-axle wagon which is what this shows right here. it had two wheels, an 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 featherbed and her father would not leave xe.hout his broad act this is what this beautiful image is showing. all of these columns in the middle of the building highlight people that were important to the underground railroad and harriet tubman's network. people such as this woman, sam green of east newmarket, william spill, thomas garrett, emory douglas and of course, , frederick douglass and henry garnet are highlighted. the next section i would like to talk about is tubman's time during the civil war. harriet tubman was a scout, a spy, and a nurse during the civil war. 1, 1863, she became 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 flooded rice fields. they burned plantations. 750 to 800ancipated people which was significant because in tubman's time, people were of course, property. it was a huge loss to the slaveowners down there. that is what this is showing. it is showing harriet tubman in a smaller boat reaching down to reach people to carry them to their emancipation. it shows women carrying anything that they could carry, a basket, some chickens, and children. that is a big deal because it is the largest emancipation event in the history of the united states. the quote says i prayed to god to make me strong and able to fight. that is what i have always prayed for ever since. it shows harriet taman dedication to the united states, she was indeed a veteran. it was a massive boon to the union army because about 10 days later, 110 men signed up for the union army. harriet tubman was a little bit of a rabble-rouser, complaining that nothing was being done to emancipate people to free the slaves. so, the massachusetts governor recruited her to operate behind the confederate lines. she was given a pass to travel from the north, down to south carolina, and do her military expeditions. she was a scout, a spy, and nurse, and able to talk to free and enslaved people as well in south carolina. she was told where the landmines were, and given insight into the river area, which was very similar to dorchester county. they were both low lands. they are both both salt marshes, lowlands, both dictated by the tides. tubman's skills she learned here in dorchester county were very useful in south carolina as well. everyone knew that, so she was sent down there to help and coordinate and assist the army. this final section of the visitor center talks about tubman's later life. she bought a home in auburn, and she also attended a church and started a home for indigent and aged african-americans. she was his suffragette. she fought for women's rights. she also had a ship named after her, the ss harriet tubman. that is all highlighted here. this is the final part of the tour. i like to highlight there are stained-glass images of dorchester county in the summer, the winter, and the spring. this image shows harriet tubman pointing at the north star and a -- emancipating a number of people. it is done by jacob lawrence. it also shows the hazards that were there, the snake with the forked tong. people carrying their children, and babies. squirrels, owls, showing the nature of this very beautiful place. since our building is south facing when the sun comes , through, it is absolutely stunning. the final section is interactive. there is a video over here, where you can learn about harriet tubman's life and legacy. you can sit next to miss tubman. this depicts her in her later years. i would also like to highlight this quote -- the midnight sky, the silent stars have been of the witness to your devotion to freedom and your heroism. that was written by frederick douglass about harriet tubman. harriet tubman was born in late february, early march of 1822. the records of enslaved peoples birthdays were not kept. but there is a receipt from a midwife, to help the midwife deliver harriet tubman. that was the name she was given when she was born. on march 10, 1913. march 10 is now harriet tubman day, which is when the visitor center was opened. the visitor center is managed by the maryland and national park service. it is located on a maryland state park called harriet tubman underground railroad state park. our administrative offices are on the other side of the park and they also have the national park service and the network for freedom. the national park service owns 480 acres of land in madison. the land is also managed from the administrative offices there. we are a partnership park. i think anyone should visit this center to build a connection to harriet tubman and her life. i want people to know that harriet tubman was just a normal person. she was not a superhero with amazing powers. she was a regular woman who was born into slavery. she remained illiterate all of her life but she did amazing things for her family and friends. she had everything against her but she lived this amazing life and made a difference. i want people to know that you can make a difference in your normal life, no matter who you are. >> monday, comcast senior executive vice president talks about competition and regulations. he is interviewed by the policy and politics senior editor. >> what is your take on the trump administration and competition? thisfeel compelled to say and it was pointed out at the conference last week. we love our company. view ourselves as strategically complete. saying to survive, we have to find something else to buy. i want to make that clear. on the other hand, we have never viewed ourselves as being foreclosed from the acquisition marketplace domestically or internationally. it has to be the right deal. it has to be something we think enhances the quality of the company and returns to shareholders. i think there is no secret that overall this president and administration is likely less hostile to horizontal or even vertical growth in the telecom space and elsewhere. communicators" monday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span2. >> c-span, where history unfolds daily. 1979, c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies and is brought to you today by your cable or satellite provider. >> ernest green was one of the little rock 9, the first african-american students to integrate little rock central high school in arkansas. president johnson sent the 101st airborne to escort the students into school in 1957. mr. green talks about his experiences in a speech we at a conference on racial fairness in the courts. it is about 30 minutes. ernest green: thank you very much, judge. i want to take time this afternoon to go against conventional etiquette. i want you to take out your phones -- yes, really do. put them on vibrate. i want you to tweet, facebook, post, take instagram photos,

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