Harriet Tubman was an American bondwoman who escaped from slavery in the South
to become a leading abolitionist before the American Civil War. She was born in
Maryland in 1820, and successfully escaped in 1849. Yet she returned many times
to rescue both family members and non-relatives from the plantation system. She
led hundreds to freedom in the North as the most famous "conductor" on the
Underground Railroad, an elaborate secret network of safe houses organized for
that purpose.
'' I freed a thousand slaves, I could have freed a thousand more, if only they knew they were slaves ''
Harriet Tubman
Commissioned by Kirklees Council to celebrate Black History Month.
The sculpture is carved from maltese limestone and is permanantly sited at Huddersfield Art Gallery / Library.
For more information visit http://www.melaniewilks.com/gallery.html