The most photographed mural of Harriet Tubman is at 424 Race St, Cambridge, MD. The small city is just ten miles north of Harriet Tubman National Historical Park and fifteen miles away from where she was held captive during her enslavement. I stopped on Race St. and expected to see the mural facing out. Many buildings had tributes to Tubman in their windows, but I could not see any sign of the mural. Then I saw a sign telling me to take an ally to the back of the building to see the mural.
The mural is behind the Harriet Tubman Museum, which was closed recently for renovation. The museum is expected to reopen in the Summer of 2026.
Cambridge is on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Settled in 1684, it quickly became an area where tobacco was planted and marketed. Cambridge became the county seat of Dorchester County, the county Tubman was born in. By 1860, there were 1,862 people living there, many of them enslaved African Americans. Today, there are more than 13,000 people living in the city.
In the year before the Civil War, the Underground Railroad took a toll on the fortunes of slaveowners in the region. For example, on October 29, 1857 The Baltimore Sun published an article on a “Great Stampede” of slaves escaping from Cambridge that month.
The sign in the alleyway is accompanied by explanatory panels.
Along the way, there was a display of photos of buildings connected to slavery and the Underground Railroad in Cambridge.
In 1861, the 1st Regiment of Eastern Shore Infantry was formed in Cambridge to fight for the Union in the Civil War. It was a home guard unit that was mobilized for out of state service when Lee invaded the North in June of 1863.
One of the major sites the signs point you to is the Dorchester County Courthouse.
Around the corner I saw a very large mural of Harriet Tubman breaking through a wall and extending a hand to people escaping slavery. The mural was painted by artist Michael Rosato in 2019. The mural is 28 feet by 14 feet.
Many passersby have their pictures taken reaching for Tubman’s hand.
The other major stop in Cambridge is the Dorchester County Circuit Court House at 206 High Street just a few blocks away from the mural.
The Court House was a place for trials, but it also saw slaves taken up on its steps and sold to the white people of Dorchester County. In the middle of the plaza is a bronze book which has a biography of Harriet Tubman. To the right of the book is a statue of Tubman.
The bronze book is directly across from the Tubman statue.
The first page in the book details Tubman’s life in Dorchester County.
The second page of the book explains the statue, which was put up in 2022, a time of revived racism.
The Beacon of Hope is a thirteen foot high statue which shows Harriet Tubman and a young girl. Tubman has her right hand raised. Her golden hand symbolizes the North Star which was used on the Underground Railroad to guide refugees escaping North.
The girl Tubman is reaching out to is symbolically herself as a young Araminta Ross, her name at birth.
At their feet are the shackles that held African Americans in slavery. Araminta is on the floor to show her being knocked out when a slave owner through a weight that hit her in the head and left her with a permanent disability. After the assault, she had visions of herself as a free woman. Tubman is offering the key to unlock her chains.
Tubman is crushing an oxen yoke beneath her feet, symbolizing the defeat of slavery. According to the Byway’s explanation of the base of the statue: “The piles of shackles and chains depict all of the lives adversely affected by slavery. The open shackles represent those whom she freed, and the closed ones represent those left behind, as well as the work that still is to be done to achieve true American equality.”
Some of you may have seen this statue in a city near you. An eleven foot high statue has toured various cities around the United States. In 2022, Cambridge contracted with sculptor Wesley Wofford to create a new thirteen foot high statue that was unveiled in 2022 on Tubman’s 200th Birthday. According to the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway, “It was Tubman’s experiences in Dorchester County – both horrific slavery and love of God and family – that were the basis for forming her into the woman she became. Her legacy and her commitment to the ideals of true freedom and equality have made her an icon of courage and determination that is still relevant today.”
The sculptor says that this is also an image of Araminta having her first vision after she was struck by the weight, of her future self coming to set free her friends and family.
On the back side of the statue is engraved a dedication to Harriet Tubman.
The sculptor says this statue is “an origin story” of Harriet Tubman as a young girl having a vision. On the dedication, the words tell the story of what made her great.
Tubman’s hand is pointing North.
A view of the monument in front of the steps that were used to sell slaves.
The side of the Courthouse. The Courthouse was used as a place to sell slaves, but it also had other purposes before the Civil War. Samuel Green, a free black farmer and Underground Railroad agent, was captured in 1857 and charged with having in his possession a copy of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. He was convicted and sentenced to ten years in jail. In 1858, Irish immigrant Abolitionist Hugh Hazlett was sentenced to serve 44 years in prison for helping escaped slaves.
A close-up of the steps where human beings were sold.
Across the street from the Courthouse is the Bayly House. Behind the house is a cabin that may have been used to house slaves. On October 17,1857, Lizzy Amby and her husband Nat who lived in this house ran off with thirteen other Blacks heading North. The clipping from the Baltimore Sun at the start of this article reports on this breakout.
When Lizzie and Nat were sheltered by an Abolitionist, her husband was asked if Lizzie would fight for her freedom, and Nat responded “I have heard her say she would wade through blood and tears for her freedom.”
Lizzie and Nat were able to make it to New York City. In a June 10, 1858 letter Nat reported to his mother that they were doing well after making their escape.
The marker on the house says it was built in 1740. While we don’t know the actual date of construction, historians say it was built in the mid-18th Century.
While the size of the house was impressive, parts of it are now rundown.
The house is at 207 High St.
There is a little marker about the statue on the corner.
Note: All color photos of buildings in this post were taken by Patrick Young except as noted.
Sources:
Harriet Tubman Underground Railway Byway
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