Harriet Tubman Memorial
The Harriet Tubman Memorial immortalizes the legacy of the Underground Railroad heroine. The statue of Tubman is also referred to as "Swing Low" which pays homage to "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," a black spiritual popularized during this period.
Tubman, deemed as the "Moses of Her People," conducted slaves to the North. Unperturbed by the implications of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and jeopardizing her own free status, Tubman enabled blacks to emancipate themselves from the chains of slavery.
The bronze statue features Tubman striding towards the South. This orientation has functioned as point of contention. Alison Saar, the sculptor, justified this artistic decision by claiming that the narrative tends to focus on Tubman's ventures from the South to the North. This statue is also accented by West African masks imprinted on Tubman's skirt. The train of the skirt is tugged on by the "roots of slavery" that Tubman overcame.
