Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park is a

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

unit in the U.S. state of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. It commemorates the life of former enslaved

Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Ross, March 10, 1913) was an American abolitionist and social activist. Born into slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 slaves, including family and friends, us ...

, who became an activist in the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...

prior to the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. The Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument was created by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

under the

Antiquities Act The Antiquities Act of 1906 (, , ), is an act that was passed by the United States Congress and signed into law by Theodore Roosevelt on June 8, 1906. This law gives the President of the United States the authority to, by presidential procla ...

on March 25, 2013. The portion of the monument administered by the National Park Service was later designated a National Historical Park in 2014, and the remainder is managed by the

Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with othe ...

as part of

Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge The Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1933 as a waterfowl sanctuary for birds migrating along the critical migration highway called the Atlantic Flyway. The refuge is located on Maryland's Eastern Shore, just south of C ...

Description

The Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park includes sites near

Cambridge, Maryland Cambridge is a city in Dorchester County, Maryland, United States. The population was 13,096 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Dorchester County and the county's largest municipality. Cambridge is the fourth most populous city in Maryl ...

, Windy Hill and Preston, in

Dorchester County Dorchester County is the name of two counties in the United States: * Dorchester County, Maryland Dorchester County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. At the 2020 census, the population was 32,531. Its county seat is Cambridge ...

, Talbot, and Caroline counties, that were significant in Tubman's life. The Park currently includes 480 acres of land known as the Jacob Jackson Home site. The NHP was established by the Carl Levin and Howard P. "Buck" McKeon National Defense Authorization Act FY2015 (Public Law 113–291, December 19, 2014). The legislation authorized the acquisition of an additional 4,207.54 acres in Dorchester, Caroline, and Talbot counties. The Jackson site was donated to the federal government by The Conservation Fund for establishment of the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument which later became known as the National Historical Park in accordance with PL 113–291. PL 113-291 also established the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park in Auburn, New York.

History

Prior to establishment of the National Historical Parks in Maryland and New York, the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument was created in Dorchester County, Maryland by President

under the

on March 25, 2013. (Section 3035) was subsequently passed and signed into law on December 19, 2014, and required the Secretary of the Interior to "administer the historical park and the portion of the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument administered by the National Park Service (in Maryland) as a single unit of the National Park System, which shall be known as the ''Harriet Tubman Underground National Historical Park''."Mascaro, Lisa (December 4, 2014
"Federal land deals full of thorny trade-offs"
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' The

Harriet Tubman National Historical Park Harriet Tubman National Historical Park is a US historical park in Auburn and Fleming, New York, associated with the life of Harriet Tubman. It comprises three properties: the Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged, in Auburn; the nearby Harriet Tu ...

in Auburn and Fleming, New York was established on January 10, 2017, and is a sister park to this one in Maryland.

References

External links

* "Harriet Tubman National Historical Park & Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park", NPCA

Accessed 2015-07-30
Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park

for the proposed Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park in Maryland and Harriet Tubman National Historical Park in New York * National Park Service {{authority control Underground Railroad National Historical Park National Monuments in Maryland National Park Service areas in Maryland National Park Service National Monuments African-American history of Maryland Memorials to Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad locations Protected areas of Dorchester County, Maryland State parks of Maryland National Monuments designated by Barack Obama Protected areas established in 2013 2013 establishments in Maryland National Historical Parks of the United States

Description

History

See also

References

External links