A 13-foot bronze sculpture of Harriet Tubman titled “Beacon of Hope” stands outside the Dorchester County Courthouse, not far from where she lived as an enslaved person.
It was dedicated on the fourth annual Day of Resilience on September 10th, 2022, in a special ceremony attended by Tubman’s descendants, Lieutenant Governor of Maryland Boyd Rutherford, artists, historians, and many people from the community.
The sculptor Wesley Wofford created it; he sculpted another sculpture of Tubman titled the Journey to Freedom, which has been on display in several locations across the US since January 2020.
Wofford depicts Tubman in two ages in her life. As a young enslaved girl and an iconic leader rescuing enslaved people from slavery. Old Tubman’s right-hand holds the north star. The star that led her north to freedom and the symbol she became to others as their leader. She reaches her left hand to her young self, handing her a shackle key that also symbolizes a key to her inner self.
The shackles of slavery and an oxen yoke surround both of them. The old Tubman climbs above the oxen yoke, lifting herself, the same as when she lifted herself from slavery and has become an inspiration for others to lift themselves.
The following is the full artist’s description:
“Araminta Ross was struck in the head with a scale counterweight at the Bucktown General Store, an injury she attributed to her having visions. In many ways, this event marked the beginning of Harriet Tubman’s own storied journey toward freedom which resulted in the liberation of hundreds of other enslaved people. As young Araminta lifted herself from the ground, she had a vision of the strong woman she would become. The sculpture depicts Harriet reaching down to help her younger self up and offering her a key to remove the shackle from her little arm. Also, with this “generational key” Araminta unlocked her inner strength to forge her own destiny: the rebirth of Araminta Ross as Harriet Tubman.
The oxen yoke is a metaphor for the yoke of slavery and Harriet crushes this broken obstacle to the point of snapping it. It also illustrates Dorchester County’s legendary story of young Minty single-handedly steering a team of oxen for her father. The piled shackles and chains depict all of the lives adversely affected by the scourge of slavery. The open shackles represent those freed by Harriet while the locked ones depict those left behind. The closed manacles also symbolize the unfinished work ahead of us essential to achieving a just and equitable future for all. While Harriet used the North Star to navigate out of bondage, she then became the compass that rose to the thousands of enslaved who followed her guiding light to Freedom.”
Harriet Tubman (1822-1913) was born enslaved on a large plantation in Dorchester County, Maryland. In 1949 she escaped and traveled by foot, mostly at night, to Delaware and then north into Pennsylvania, where she became free. Tubman became a conductor on the underground railroad and traveled to Maryland 13 times to help more than 70 people to freedom, among them her family members. During the civil war, she served in the union army as a cook, nurse, spy, and scout, helping more people to freedom. After the war, she continued advocating for equal rights for African Americans and supported the women’s suffrage movement.
Tubman is unofficially a Maryland heroine and is one of the most depicted women in the US. Click here to explore more places about Tubman in the area or join a guided tour.
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