AUBURN, N.Y. (NCC News) — Harriet Tubman spent 54 years in New York. Essentially it was another life from the one she previously lived working the underground railroad.
Why here? That question is being answered by the Cayuga Museum of History and Art in an exhibit titled, “Auburn in Harriet Tubman’s Time.”
Karyn Radcliffe serves as the institution’s collections manager and she was part of the team that did some of the research to put the display together.
For Tubman Central New York was an ideal area for her to live out the rest of her life even though it scared her family due to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Radcliffe said that even with those worries Tubman had support in the area.
“There’s a big abolition support network here, especially Cayuga County,” Radcliffe said. “There were a lot of Quakers so there was already this network set up that made it easy for her to come here.”
Throughout the second story bedroom turned historic display, photos line the walls highlighting Tubman’s support for elderly care and woman’s suffrage. Radcliffe said visitors are going to learn more about Tubman outside of what the history books say.
“She kind of takes on the mythical persona and I think that takes away a little bit because she was this ordinary person who obviously did extraordinary things,” Radcliffe said.
The museum is open Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and the exhibit is on display until Saturday, Oct. 1.
More information and tours are available at Cayugamuseum.org.
