Johnson County Community College
Press Release

College Information and Publications
913-469-8500
Julie Haas, Associate Vice President, Marketing Communications, ext. 3120
Peggy Graham, Writer, ext. 3425
Tyler Cundith, Sports Information Director, ext. 3122

1/14/09
Story by Peggy Graham

‘Underground Railroad’ Tracks Freedom

Tubman_Harriet.jpg (24 KB) 'Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad'

Using words and music, Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad is a tribute to the great American heroine who freed herself and hundreds of other slaves. Her courage helped to change the world.

Co-produced by the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia, Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad will give local students an opportunity
to see this accurate and deeply moving musical history lesson at 9:45 a.m. and noon Tuesday, Feb. 10, in Yardley Hall of the Carlsen Center, Johnson County Community College, as part of the Carlsen Center ArtsEducation program.

The drama unfolds with the real-life story of Tubman, born a slave in 1821 in Bucktown District, Md., who escaped in 1849 following the Underground Railroad to Philadelphia. Here she was persuaded to take on the dangerous role of a conductor for the Underground Railroad, using her extraordinary tracking ability to rescue others.

At the start of the Civil War, Tubman became a spy for the Union Army and later a nurse and a scout. The Emancipation Proclamation and end of the Civil War did not end her trials. When riding a train in the South, Tubman was injured because she refused to leave her seat.

Returning to Auburn, N.Y., to care for her aging parents, Tubman opened her house to
numerous black and Union soldiers. After public pressure, Congress awarded her a small pension, and she spent the rest of her life speaking out against injustice.

Tickets for Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad are sold out.