Harriet Tubman's Hymnal, Shawl and Portrait
Photograph by Benjamin F. Powelson (1823 to 1885) · Hymnal about 1876; shawl about 1897; photograph 1868 to 1869
In the Slavery and Freedom gallery a small group of objects brings you closer to Harriet Tubman than any statue could. There is a worn hymnal, Gospel Hymns Number Two, with her name written inside; a delicate silk lace and linen shawl said to have been given to her by Queen Victoria; and a photograph of a young woman in a checked skirt and dark bodice, seated with her hands folded, looking steadily at the camera. Tubman was born enslaved in Maryland, escaped in eighteen forty nine, and returned again and again to lead others north on the Underground Railroad.
Each object tells a different part of the story. The hymnal reminds you that the songs she sang were also signals, used to warn or reassure the people she was guiding. The shawl belongs to the later Tubman, the famous veteran honoured abroad, who was nonetheless poor for most of her old age. The photograph, taken in Auburn, New York, when she was in her mid forties, is the earliest known image of her and shows a much younger face than the familiar pictures of an elderly woman. Look at the composure of the pose and the plain, well cut clothes of a free woman.
The hymnal and shawl came from the collection of Charles L. Blockson, who gave dozens of Tubman objects to the museum in two thousand and nine. The photograph was found in an album belonging to the abolitionist teacher Emily Howland and was bought jointly with the Library of Congress in twenty seventeen. Together they are among the most quietly powerful things in the building.
Did You Know? The photograph was unknown until twenty seventeen, when it turned up in a friend's album, and it is the only picture of Tubman as a young woman.
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