News Release
NPS photo
News Release Date: April 18, 2022
Contact: NewsMedia@nps.gov
WASHINGTON – A powerful advocate, freedom fighter, and hero, Harriet Tubman’s story takes form in a new trip-planning tool through the National Park Service (NPS) App. Travel with Tubman: Let Harriet Tubman Guide You on the Journey of a Lifetime, highlights 13 sites that most effected Tubman throughout her life, representative of her 13 rescue missions to Maryland.
Travel with Tubman was developed as part of the year-long celebration of the bicentennial of Tubman’s birth. Together with community stewards and partners, the NPS National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program developed this tool to provide visitors with a guide for exploring Tubman’s life and legacy in national parks, National Heritage Areas, and historic sites across the eastern United States.
“It is a humbling experience to trace the footsteps of a hero like Harriet Tubman and reflect on everything she endured and accomplished during her lifetime. Thanks to the collaborative work of the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom and its partners, Travel with Tubman can help visitors forge deeper connections through the power of place,” said NPS Director Chuck Sams. “This trip-planning tool highlights the story of Tubman and her iconic legacy in a new way, bringing to light some of the most significant sites associated with her life.”
Born on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, Harriet Tubman developed deep connections to faith, community, and family during her childhood. After she escaped slavery, Tubman felt an obligation to return to her birthplace and assist her family to freedom. She referred to herself as a conductor on the Underground Railroad and utilized her connections with other Underground Railroad activists across the Northeast to lead groups of enslaved people to freedom in Canada. Tubman also traversed the Southeast United States while she served as a scout, spy, and nurse during the American Civil War.
“After emancipating herself, Harriet Tubman continued to give back to her community in every way she knew how,” said NPS National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program Manager Diane Miller. “The National Park Service and our partners have a responsibility to come together and share her story with the world – and this tour is a great example of what we can accomplish by working together.”
Travel with Tubman is available online and best viewed through the free NPS App, downloadable in the iOS App Store and Google Play Store. Users can also download and print “The Conductor,” or create their own guide to lead them on a once in a lifetime road trip. Share your photos from Tubman-related sites and show us how you #TravelWithTubman.
Travel with Tubman is a vision become reality. Rooted in partnerships, the NPS is grateful to the work and support of countless individuals, partners, and organizations, including:
- Auburn Downtown Business Improvement District
- Cayuga County Tourism
- Fort Monroe National Monument
- Harriet Tubman Byway
- Harriet Tubman Home, Inc.
- I LOVE NY
- Independence National Historical Park
- Maryland Office of Tourism
- New York State Equal Rights Heritage Center
- Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center
- National Parks of Boston
- Reconstruction Era National Historical Park
- Riverfront Wilmington
- Smithfield Community Organization
- Smith Opera House
- Thompson Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
- Underground Railroad Education Center
The National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom serves to honor, preserve, and promote the history of resistance to enslavement through escape and flight, which continues to inspire people worldwide. The Network currently represents over 700 locations in 39 states, plus Washington D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Through its mission, the Network to Freedom helps to advance the idea that all human beings embrace the right to self-determination and freedom from oppression.
About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America’s 423 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov.
Last updated: April 21, 2022