Harriet Tubman

In honor of Black History Month, The Cardinal will feature a prominent and/or historical Black Americans, living or dead, who have worked toward change, advancement, and/or world peace. Some of them are heroes, and some are unsung heroes who deserve recognition, and have made contributions to make society a better place.

Eh Paw, Staff Writer

February 7, 2025

Library of Congress

Harriet Tubman was an American abolitionist and social activist. She was born in March 1822, in Dorchester County, Maryland.

She was born Araminta Ross, but later changed it to Harriet Tubman at the age of 13 years old to honor her mother. Tubman’s parents are Ben Ross and Harriet Greene Ross. Tubman has eight siblings, four brothers named Robert, Ben, Moses, and Henry and she has four sisters named Linah, Mariah Ritty, soph, and Rachel. Tubman was a middle child.

Tubman grew up under harsh and brutal treatment. She was born directly into a life of enslavement. When she was five or six she was already working as a house servant and later on the fields. She wanted freedom and justice. She was beaten and whipped by enslavers as a child. She suffered a traumatic head wound from a heavy metal weight intending to hit another slave but accidentally hit her instead. Tubman escaped slavery in the fall of 1849 she fled to Philadelphia when she was 27 years old.

When she was free Tubman became an operator of the underground railroad. In 1850 she first saved her nieces from slavery. She later on saves her family and friends. She made 13 trips back and forth on the underground railroad to rescue enslaved people. She saved 70 people. After saving people she serves as a spy, scout, and nurse for the Union Army during the Civil War while continuing her fight against slavery.

Tubman settled in Auburn, New York in 1859 after the Civil War. She continued to fight for equality. She established the Harriet Tubman Home for the aged to take care of African Americans. She later died on March 10, 1913, at the age of 91. E

She made significant changes for the black community, saving many enslaved during her service on the Underground Railroad. Her accomplishment was to free people from slavery. Her legacy was to fight for freedom and equality.

About the Contributor

Eh Paw, Staff Writer

Eh Paw is a senior at Hoover High School, and goes by Paw. She started at Hoover High School her freshman year and is now a senior. Paw’s goal is to attend college and major in diagnostic medical sonography. She wants to attend San Diego State University or the University of California San Diego. She can't wait to graduate. She wants a simple and stable life in the future. Her favorite foods are spicy Thai basil which is ground pork, chicken, or beef of your choice stir fry and served with rice on the side and a fried egg on top. She loves mango. Mango is one of her favorite fruits. She likes mango sticky rice desserts. Her favorite drink is Thai tea. She always gets Thai tea when she goes out to get a drink. Paw is the oldest sibling and she is a role model to her younger siblings, but her role models are her parents whom she loves and looks up to because of how hard they provide for her and her siblings. Paw wants to travel to Thailand and visit her hometown. She hasn't been to Thailand since she moved to the United States. She is most likely to go back and visit Thailand after High school. A graduation trip for all the hard work in high school. In order to change the world, she said she must change herself first because believes you can't change it all at once so start with yourself and move little by little. Society can make the world a better place by “listening.” Currently, people have big egos to the point where they don't listen to each other. If we just shut up and listen to each other, we hear the other people's side of the story which will make everything make sense. That way empathy can be born. Active listening opens up solutions and other solutions.