April, 1853–Spring Brought a Message of Hope
In Boone county, Kentucky, the newspapers in April, 1853 were filled with news of “slave stampedes.” It began on April 2 with 28 freedom seekers walking away from Petersburg through Cincinnati and up Hamilton Avenue with an overnight stop in College Hill.
I was taken by surprise when I read that exactly today, 161 years ago,Harriet Tubman led her first group to freedom. The strong message of hope that comes with these spring days, must have been in the air. The call to freedom was sounding louder and louder with more making their escape and more people–both black and white, being willing to defy the laws to help them make their escape.
“On this date (Wed, 04-20-1853) Harriet Tubman began her work with the Underground Railroad. This was a network of antislavery activists who helped slaves escape from the South.On her first trip, Tubman brought her own sister and her sister’s two children out of slavery in Maryland. A year later she rescued her brother, and in 1857 returned to Maryland to guide her aged parents to freedom.Over a period of ten years Tubman made an estimated 19 expeditions into the South and personally escorted about 300 slaves to the North.” Encyclopedia Britanica
Diana Porter
Easter Sunday, 2014