Harriet Tubman: Visions of Freedom

FREDARA HADLEY

Wade in the water is a song that we would sing to ease people into the water to be baptized. And so, it comes to have that double meaning. Wade in the water can start with a low moan or a low hum... (starts to hum) And so, if someone is just kind of moaning and motioning for people to move past or if everybody is kind of singing it softly... (starts to sing softly). Wade in the water Wade in the water Wade in the water children Wade in the water God is gonna trouble these waters See that band all dressed in white

KAREN HILL

To be a conductor on the Underground Railroad, like Harriet Tubman, you had to really teach those under your care how they need to behave in every possible circumstance. And she was clear that once you start this path towards freedom, there was no turning back. Wade in the water God is gonna trouble the water

FERGUS BORDEWICH

Famously, when a freedom seeker traveling with her got cold feet, she pulled out a pistol and threatened to use it on them. Because nobody would be more dangerous to Harriet Tubman than somebody who had come partway with her, given up, and then gone back into slavery. Wade in the water

DALE GREEN

She was short and she was small and she was a woman. That pistol gave many of those who were running for their lives a great level of confidence in that she was clearly in charge. My Lord delivered Daniel well Daniel well, Daniel well

ED BAPTIST

A whole mythology has grown up around the Underground Railroad, but you've got to say what Harriet Tubman was doing is something ah, that's, that's much more like a military raid. Daniel well, My Lord delivered Daniel well

VINCENT LEGETT

Harriet Tubman knew how to use the disguises and subterfuge. I mean, she was brilliant! Brilliant. Man went down to the river lord

ERICA DUNBAR

She never accepted praise or responsibility even for these great feats. She always saw herself as a vessel of her God.

GERARD ACHING

There's a fearlessness there. There's a conviction there. She herself knew that she could be captured at any moment, but she did not waver about it, you know, she knew that her prayers would be answered. God's gonna trouble these waters

JEFF LUDWIG

The last of the approximate 13 trips that Harriet Tubman makes is as a Civil War is just beginning. Very late in 1860, Lincoln has been elected, but not yet inaugurated. You could cut the tensions in this country with a knife. Harriet Tubman has already purchased a home in New York, in Auburn. And Harriet's main purposes for returning, very dangerous to Dorchester County and the Eastern Shore, were to bring others, but especially her family, to freedom. And time and time again, Harriet has tried unsuccessfully to liberate her sister, Rachel.

REV PAUL CARTER

Well, when she goes down there this time to get her sister and her children, she comes to find out that her sister Rachel had died just a few months prior to her coming down. And, of course, she was floored when she found that out. Probably heartbroken. But while she was there, she made the decision again, not let's not waste this journey. And there was the family, the Ennals family that was ready to go. The husband, wife, and three children.

ANGELA CRENSHAW

She was very to the point, "my name is Harriet Tubman. I'm here to take you to freedom. You need to follow me and we need to move right now."