Women You May Not Know

Born into slavery, Harriet Tubman (Araminta “Minty” Harriet Ross) (ca. 1820-1913) survived brutal beatings and family displacements to become a heroic abolitionist, suffragist, and Civil War spy.

As a young woman, Tubman sustained a near-fatal head wound when struck by a metal weight—a blow intended for another slave. Untreated, she braved debilitating headaches and seizures for the rest of her life. Tubman also experienced (possibly epileptic) ecstasies that she ascribed to God.

Her death-defying efforts on behalf of others–whether rescuing over 70 slaves on the Underground Railroad, or nursing smallpox-afflicted soldiers unscathed–bolstered her reputation as one blessed.

Tubman later joined forces with Susan B. Anthony and traveled the East Coast advancing women’s suffrage; her bravery and sacrifice before and during the Civil War were a testament to women’s entitlement to liberty.

Tubman was the keynote speaker at the National Federation of Afro-American Women (1896), and was profiled in the Woman’s Era “Eminent Women” series (1897). Both the Episcopal and Evangelical Lutheran Churches commemorate Tubman in their calendars of saints.

By Jen Hawkins