Washington, DC Harriet Tubman Centennial International Commemoration

Lecture Program

Frederick Douglass National Historic Site

1411 W Street, SE | Washington, DC

2:00 PM - 4:00 PM, Saturday, March 9, 2013

Presented by

National Park Service

In cooperation with DC Reading Is Fundamental, Inc.

In honour of

100th Anniversary of Harriet Tubman’s Passing (March 10, 1913)

150th Anniversary of the American Civil War (1861-1865)

National Women’s History Month-March 2013

UN International Women’s Day (March 8, 2013)

UN International Remembrance Day for the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade-

[206th Anniversary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade in the British Empire (March 25, 1807)]

Remembering Those: victims of the slave trade and slavery; who advocated for and abolished slavery;

who fought for freedom in the U.S. Civil War Union forces; enslaved persons freed

Programme

Welcome Braden Paynter, Park Ranger

National Park Service

Greetings Peter Hanes

DC Emancipation Commemoration Coordinator

DC Reading Is Fundamental, Inc.

Dr. LaVonne Leslie Jackson, President Emeritus

Washington, DC & Vicinity Federation of Women’s Clubs

National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs

Harriet Tubman Centennial International Commemoration Overview

Remark s Vincent deForest, Special Assistant to Director (retired)

National Park Service, for Underground Railroad Projects

Lecture: A New Day Begun: The Impact of the Emancipation Proclamation CR Gibbs

on the Nation's Capital, Maryland & Virginia Historian of the African Diaspora

Author, Black, Copper, & Bright:

The District of Columbia’s Black Civil War Regiment

Lecture: The Life and Times of Harriet Tubman Rosemary Sadlier, Order of Ontario

with emphasis on her Canadian experience President, Ontario Black History Society

Coordinator, International Emancipation Day Commemoration (Toronto)

Author, Harriet Tubman: Freedom Seeker, Freedom Leader

Q&A

HARRIET TUBMAN

Underground Railroad Conductor | Abolitionist | U.S. Civil War Nurse, Scout, and Spy |

Women’s Suffragist | Humanitarian

Synopses for Consecutive Lectures

Lecturer: C.R. Gibbs, Author, Lecturer and Historian of the African Diaspora;

Author, Black, Copper, & Bright: The District of Columbia’s Black Civil War Regiment

Lecture Title: A New Day Begun: The Impact of the Emancipation Proclamation on the Nation's Capital,

Maryland & Virginia.

Synopsis: The lecture will provide an unprecedented survey of the stunning effect of Lincoln's historic document

on three widely divergent polities: the District which had undergone its own emancipation nine months earlier;

Maryland, a loyal state whose enslaved population seethed with a desire for freedom; and the Old Dominion

which had already seceded from the Union and hoped in vain for rebel victory to return all its residents to the old

order of things.

Lecturer: Rosemary Sadlier, Order of Ontario;

President, Ontario Black History Society;

Coordinator, International Emancipation Day Commemoration (Toronto);

Author, Harriet Tubman: Freedom Seeker, Freedom Leader (2012)

Lecture Title: The Life and Times of Harriet Tubman with emphasis on her Canadian experience.

Synopsis: Born in the United States and enslaved as a child, Harriet Tubman (circa 1820-1913) is one of the bestknown

figures connected to the Underground Railroad, the historic resistance to enslavement through the flight to

freedom in the Western Hemisphere. Tubman was well poised to command her followers through her knowledge

and outdoor survival skills, honed through her unpaid labour in the fields and the later connections she made in

the abolitionist community. By her discipline and example, she never lost a "passenger."

Tubman's exploits helped to empower those opposed to slavery and enrage those who supported it. Her success

encouraged enslaved Africans to make the brave break for freedom and reinforced the belief held by abolitionists

in the potential of Black freedom and independence. She was referred to as "General Tubman" due to her

contributions to the Underground Railroad and to the Union Army, and her numerous rescue missions ending in

Canada helped to build the interest in escape and reinforced the position of Canada as the final stop on the journey

to freedom.