Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad

Ann Petry was an American author from Connecticut who lived from 1908 to 1997. Her work included short stories, children’s books, journalism, and novels. One of Petry’s best-known works is her novel The Street, which made history as the first novel by a Black woman to sell over one million books. Petry’s identity as an African American woman significantly influenced her work. Her books, Country Place and The Narrows, feature Black characters navigating American society. Petry’s own African American heritage may have also motivated her to share Harriet Tubman’s story with a wider audience, help elevate Tubman’s reputation, and prompt further research into her life and achievements.

Tubman is the protagonist of Petry’s biography, and it’s little wonder why: over 100 years after her death, she is still lauded for her skill and bravery in escaping from slavery and helping over 300 other Black Americans do the same. In Petry’s biography, we learn that Harriet is born to enslaved parents, Benjamin Ross and Harriet Greene, on the Brodas plantation in Maryland. Growing up on the plantation, Harriet soon learns to fear white authority figures such as the overseer and the plantation owner and enjoys moments of leisure, time with her family, and simple pleasures such as new clothes and food.