Under dangerous circumstances, with “slave catchers” close behind, the men and women of the Underground Railroad risked death to lead the enslaved out of brutal conditions and on to new lives. One of the most famous conductors on the Railroad—a collection of secret trails and safe houses—was Harriet Tubman, known to the abolitionist movement as “The Moses of Her People.” During the 1850s, she led hundreds of people, in small groups, over routes she had memorized, through forests, fields, and dense thickets to freedom. In case they got separated, she taught her followers to find their way at night by the North Star. It is also likely she directed enslaved people to travel by boat across the Delaware Bay from Lewes, Delaware to Cape May, as New Jersey was a Free State. From there, many continued north to New York or Canada.
Tubman received financial support from antislavery groups. To help pay for her rescues, she also worked as a cook and housekeeper for three summers during the early 1850s for families and hotels in Cape May. This seaside town was known at the time for its abolitionist sentiments. A founder of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, Stephen Smith, built a summer home in Cape May. And the Banneker House, one of the best hotels for free Black people, was located there.
During the Civil War, Harriet Tubman worked for the Union as a cook and a nurse. In 1863, she led a military action with 150 African American soldiers to rescue over 700 enslaved people in an operation called the Combahee Ferry Raid. She was the first woman to lead such a large military campaign. After slavery was outlawed, she spoke in support of women’s rights and for the Women’s Su rage Movement. She spent her last years in a home she founded for “Aged and Indigent Negroes” in Auburn, New York.
“ Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.
Harriet Tubman
A new museum commemorating Harriet Tubman opened on Juneteenth (June 19) in 2021 in Cape May in the Howell House, the former parsonage of the Macedonia Baptist Church. The parsonage had been vacant for almost 40 years. The museum depicts the life and work of Harriet Tubman and the abolitionist movement in Cape May. A timeline describes important events and individuals associated with the rich history of the local African American community. Many of the objects in the museum, including shackles that date from the 1800s, were collected by Reverend Robert O. Davis, former pastor of the Macedonia Baptist Church. Other objects were donated by 86-year-old Emily Dempsey, a 4th-generation African American resident of Cape May. One of Dempsey’s prized possessions was an 1870s edition of abolitionist William Still’s The Underground Railroad. Still was a free Black man from Burlington County, New Jersey; he later lived at 625 S. Delhi Street in the Philadelphia neighborhood now known as Bella Vista.
The Harriet Tubman Museum is located at 632 Lafayette Street, Cape May, NJ 08204. For more information about the museum and to confirm hours of operation, see info@harriettubmanmuseum.org. Reservations are strongly recommended and are available at https://htmtickets.eventbrite.com/. Admission to the Museum is by timed entry on the hour, $10 plus applicable ticket processing fees for adults, $5 plus applicable fees for children 10 and under. A tour of the museum is included with admission.
Jane Hickman, Ph.D., is the former editor of Expedition. She lives in Cape May and is writing a book on Early Minoan jewelry.