By Deborah Bailey
AFRO Contributing Editor
The Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historic Park is the “must go” trip to add to your travel agenda. The Tubman site originally opened in March 2017, in Church Creek, Md. through a partnership between the State of Maryland and the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) Harriet Tubman site.
This historic state-federal partnership is one of the very reasons to ensure the Harriet Tubman site is on your list. Maryland State Park Rangers are working to keep the national historic site running. State staff members are on site to welcome visitors every day in the absence of NPS staff who were not present at the Tubman site this past summer, or at most of the NPS’ 443 national parks, monuments and historic sites.
Tuesdays through Sundays the small State Park Ranger staff at the Harriet Tubman site in Church Creek, Md. will be busy greeting visitors who trickle in from across the region, the country and world. The space is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. EST.
Visitors from all 50 states and 60 countries have made the pilgrimage to the naturally beautiful rural site to pay homage to Tubman’s legacy.
The journey to the Harriet Tubman Center feels like stepping back in time. Located in Dorchester County, near Tubman’s birthplace in Church Creek, the center is about 50 miles off Maryland Route 50, the main highway linking Washington D.C. and Ocean City. Its remote location was purposely chosen by the designers, according to Maryland State Park Ranger, Joanna Trojanowski.
The Tubman Center has been quite busy in recent years hosting national events in honor of the diminutive 4’1’’ woman born as Araminta Ross, Trojanowski said.
“There’s been a lot going on here about Harriet Tubman. She is on a new stamp that came out last year, she had a naval ship named after her announced in 2023, she has commemorative coins (issued in January 2024). A lot of times we are lucky enough to be the host of all these events,” she said.
“The U.S. Navy showed up here, the Secretary came and made the announcement for the ship, the U.S. Postal Service did the first day of sales for the Tubman coins here, and even this past Veteran’s Day, the Maryland Army National Guard and the U.S. Air Force came out and posthumously commissioned General Tubman as a Brigadier General. We get to be a part of all these things,” she added.
The National Tubman site continues to be involved with the local community nearby as well. The National Tubman site collaborates with the city of Cambridge, Maryland who also hosts a Harriet Tubman Museum that was temporarily closed in May due to water damage. University of Maryland Eastern Shore provides Tubman themed artwork.
The exhibit is contained in three buildings, guiding the visitor through Tubman’s story with artwork, media, and exhibits. Visitors can track Tubman’s Underground Railroad pathway to Pennsylvania and Canada during the multiple trips she made to rescue family members and friends from enslavement to freedom. Although Tubman could not read or write, she prepared detailed itineraries for other individuals and families to secure their path to freedom as displayed in the multi-media exhibits in the museum.
Among the most stunning features of the national historic park are the life-size bronze statues of Tubman throughout the site. The Tubman site also features special music, art, and craft demonstrations throughout the year. For children, the Maryland Park Rangers operate a badging program where children and teens can earn badges and other items for learning about Tubman. Visitors can also partake in an annual Harriet Tubman Day in early March to celebrate the anniversary of Tubman’s death, March 10, 1913.
Even on a quiet weekday, visitors throughout the region and nation make their way to Church Creek, like Sheronne Crombie Smiley, a teacher trainer from Philadelphia who came with half a dozen family and friends from New York and Atlanta. “We came together as a sister circle so we could do this family tour together,” Crombie Smiley said.
“I have learned so much. As an educator, I thought I knew it all,” stated Crombie Smiley. “But you’re never too old or too young to learn our history. This has been a fabulous experience.”