After escaping slavery herself in 1849, Harriet Tubman freed 70 others as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. She also served as a Union spy during the Civil War and advocated for women's suffrage.
A new coin from the U.S. Mint honors her — and Cincinnati's Underground Railroad Freedom Center played a big role in making the coin a reality.
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"We've been a strategic advisor in terms of providing historical information and facts and content," Freedom Center President and COO Woodrow Keown Jr. says. "But before that, we played a role in getting the legislation passed in Congress, because it required legislation by Congress to have this coin produced by the U.S. Mint."
After freeing herself, Tubman spent a decade going back to Maryland, where she had been enslaved, to help others escape. Her exploits and advocacy afterward — including her leadership of Black Union Army troops during the Combahee River Raid, which freed some 750 slaves in 1863 — cemented her legacy as one of America's most important historical figures. Following the Civil War, Tubman settled in Auburn, N.Y., where she dedicated her life to supporting those freed from slavery.
Keown says the coin's significance goes beyond Tubman's heroic life. He says the contributions of African Americans and women are often "under-told."
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"I hope that when people see this coin and really start reading and learning more about Harriet Tubman's life — as I learned even more during this process — that they will come to understand the important role that African Americans and women in particular have played in regards to our country's history," he says.
New York's Harriet Tubman Home also collaborated on the project. Both the Tubman Home and The Freedom Center will receive proceeds from the sale of the coins to support their missions.
The Freedom Center will have programming further commemorating Tubman later this year. The coins will be available in fifty cent, $1 and $5 denominations in early 2024.