Honors and Praise for
HARRIET TUBMAN
CONDUCTOR ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD A New York Times Outstanding Book An ALA Notable Children’s Book “An evocative portrait.” —New Yorker
“Told with insight, style, and a fine narrative skill.” —New York Times “A superb biography. The vitality of this remarkable woman leaps from every page.” —Chicago Tribune “An unusually well-written and moving life of the ‘Moses of her people.’” —The Horn Book “Ann Petry, writing with sympathy and fidelity, has made Harriet Tubman live for present-day readers of any age. Deeply moving.” —Christian Science Monitor
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ANN PETRY
HARRIET TUBMAN CONDUCTOR ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
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The excerpt from John Brown’s Body by Stephen Vincent Benét, published by Rinehardt & Company, copyright © 1927, 1928 by Stephen Vincent Benét, is reprinted by permission. Additional material in the back matter was created by Kathleen Odean, a former school librarian, teacher of children’s literature, and chair of the Newbery Award Committee. Amistad is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Harriet Tubman Conductor on the Underground Railroad Copyright © 1955 by Ann Petry Copyright © renewed 1983 by Ann Petry Foreword © 2018 by Jason Reynolds All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information address HarperCollins Children’s Books, a division of HarperCollins Publishers, 195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007. www.harpercollinschildrens.com Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 55-9215 ISBN 978-0-06-269130-9 (trade bdg.) —ISBN 978-0-06-266826-4 (pbk.) 17 18 19 20 21 CG/LSCH
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ❖
Revised edition, 2018
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FOREWORD
TIMELINE DISCUSSION QUESTIONS EXTENSION ACTIVITIES INDEX
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243 247 251 253
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Foreword by Ja s on R e y n ol d s Since I was around the age of ten, Harriet Tubman, for me, has been like an extra grandmother, or a distant aunt my mother always made a plate for just in case she decided to stop by for Sunday dinner. She lived in this space between long-lost (but famous) family member and mythical superhero whose life story was meant to be spun as ten-minute tales on rickety back porches or on road trips. She was a picture fit for church fans and beauty salons. A ubiquitous image of a dark brown face—a bandanna wrapped around her head. A face that looked incapable of smiling, but fully capable of smelling fear. My mother has a face like that. My grandmother did, too. I was in the fourth grade. It was February, and therefore Black History Month—the obligatory academic window to learn about the historic and often overlooked contributions of African Americans. And by ten years old, I had become somewhat of an expert, not on Black History, but definitely on Black History Month. A three-page section of an elementary textbook drawn out into weeklong lessons, beginning with slavery, the shortest of the lot. The slavery section, from what I recall,
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HARRIET TUBMAN
was more of an overview, a definition of what slavery was just so that we could fast-forward a few hundred years from the backs of horses to the backs of busses. Which led to the second section of the Black History Month curriculum: Rosa Parks. There was definitely more time spent on the Montgomery Bus Boycott than slavery, but it was all still just a warm-up for the main attraction: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It was as though he was introduced every year with a drumroll. As if he was, in fact, the heavyweight champion of Black History, complete with a highlight reel of photographs and video footage. And finally, the month would be rounded out by the assignment of all assignments, the book report of all book reports: Find someone, other than Dr. King or Rosa Parks, to present on. Perhaps an inventor. Did you know an African American invented the gas mask? George Washington Carver explored the potential of the peanut. Madam C. J. Walker was one of America’s first millionaire women, amassing a fortune selling hair products. Perhaps someone could tell us about Jesse Owens. Mae Jemison? Mary McLeod Bethune? For some reason I always—always—chose to do my report on Dr. Charles Drew and the work he did to revolutionize the way we think about blood, though admittedly, I still have absolutely no idea what blood plasma is. Like I said, I was an expert on Black History Month, not, however, on Dr. Charles Drew. But my expertise, or at least what I thought I knew, would be upended the February of my fourth-grade year. I should note, this was also the year my mother made me watch the Roots miniseries, so I was especially prepared to raise my hand
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FOREWORD
and ask questions during the slavery section. I knew slaves were forced to work. I also knew slaves were terrified to defy the master in fear of being whipped almost to death. As far as I was concerned, as a ten-year-old, no one ever made it out of slavery. No one escaped the plantation and actually tasted freedom. And then my teacher began telling the class about Harriet Tubman. A woman who didn’t just taste it, but scarfed it down and returned to the plantation multiple times to offer her friends and family a seat at the table of new life. I went home, mentioned Harriet Tubman to my mother, and my relationship with this larger-than-life story began. They said she took the Underground Railroad and went back nineteen times. They said she carried a gun and would threaten to kill you if you didn’t want freedom. They said she had some kind of sickness where she would blackout. But she never got caught. She never got caught! Ann Petry’s classic, Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad, takes the spastic excitement that washed over me as a young person and elongates it into a sustainable pride, wrapped around a much more complete story about a woman—a human—who more importantly was once a child. A child with dreams and fears and curiosities. A child who sought adventure and dreaded boredom. A child who heard the whispers of freedom and could’ve believed it was only fantasy, the gossip of old folks. She could’ve settled on the fact it would be something she’d never touch, but instead grew up to realize
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that fear, illness, gender, and even heartbreak, could not get in the way of the liberation she deserved. Petry’s Harriet Tubman is a historic grail for young people, especially young women all across the world today. Young women who aren’t afraid of the backbreaking work. Who aren’t afraid of listening to their dreams. Who aren’t afraid to wield courage like a sword and risk it all for agency. It will be these young women, who will be thought of someday—to a ten-yearold perhaps—as unknown family members and unbelievable superheroes whose stories aren’t just meant for dinner tables and long rides, but instead meant to swim in the blood of generations to come. The images of their faces may also be distorted into fists, seemingly incapable of smiling, but fully capable of smelling fear. But because of Harriet Tubman—because of the uncontainable nature of stories like this one—there will always be something extra in their eyes. They will flicker with something familiar. Something phenomenal. And now I know, I am certain, my mother’s eyes flicker that way. My grandmother’s did, too.
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