July 1, 2022
I recently did a virtual trip to the newer national park the Harriet Tubman Historical National Park. Not to be confused with the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Park, the Historical National Park in Auburn, New York is where Harriet Tubman’s home and farm are located. The park was established in 2017 by the National Park Service and the Harriet Tubman Visitor Center is operated by National Park Service partner, the Harriet Tubman Home, Inc. It includes the Thompson Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church that Tubman helped raise funds to build. The park also includes the Harriet Tubman Visitor Center, the Tubman Home for the Aged, and the Harriet Tubman Residence which sit on about a 32-acre campus. At the date of this post and visit, it is a park in progress with limited services.
According to the website, the Thompson Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and parsonage require substantial repair and renovations prior to being returned to public uses. Harriet Tubman’s house is viewed from the outside only and access to the Home for the Aged is by guided tour that begin at the Harriet Tubman Visitor Center; at least at the time of this post was written. The park’s website shared their goals for the park, and have not included recent updates. It would be good to see in the future a more 360-degree virtual tour for both around the campus and within the building. In the meantime, I really appreciated the sources available on their website.
I participated in a virtual tour by exploring their National Park Service website and the mobile app. While I was on the website, it provided background information describing the historical significance of the national park and how Harriet Tubman made her home in Auburn, New York. The Harriet Tubman Historical National Park shares the life of Harriet Tubman who was one of the conductors of the Underground Railroad to help enslaved people escape to freedom. Tubman was born enslaved in Dorchester County, Maryland in 1822, and much of Harriet Tubman’s early life was outside of her control; she was denied basic human rights and subjected to exploitation by others. She seized her freedom at the age of 27. For ten years, she used her time and energy to help liberate others, including her family and friends, but in doing so she found few opportunities to establish a home base for herself for very long. Tubman was almost constantly on the move between Canada and Maryland. When she realized that a Civil War was imminent, Tubman found a haven for her family in the rural village of Fleming, New York, just outside the city of Auburn. To learn more, I recommend visiting their website and I included a list of links below.
I decided to explore the app when I read about Travel with Tubman on the website. Travel with Tubman is a virtual trip planning tool within the National Park Service app to explore places across the country that highlight thirteen places important to Harriet Tubman’s life and legacy, and importance in American history. It outlines locations connected to the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, Harriet Tubman National Historical Park, Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historic Site, and their partners across the east coast of the United States. The app, available for iOS and Android devices, connects visitors to a number of National Park Service offerings including interactive maps, tours of park places, and on-the-ground accessibility information to plan adventures before and during the trips. I appreciate the amount of information they included on the app especially a list of other historic sites relevant to the Underground Railroad, and a map of where those places are located.
To learn more, visit the links below. Thank you all so much for your patience!
Links:
https://www.nps.gov/hart/index.htm
Harriet Tubman Home, Inc.: https://www.harriettubmanhome.com/
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/undergroundrailroad/explore-virtual-ugrr.htm
