I
have always loved poetry by Langston Hughes.
Soon I was reading everything I could by him or about him. When I read “A
Pictorial History of African Americans” I read a quote he had used in reference
to Harriet Tubman. I can’t seem to find the quote, but it had to do with
planting apple trees. As
a child slave she was not allowed to eat apples off the trees. She said she had
wanted to grow several apple trees so that she would have enough to share. After having escaped and helping several
others to escape she settled up north. She
had planted and grew apple trees on her estate in Auburn, New York.
I was fascinated by Harriet Tubman
and read all I could about her. Several
years later, I remember Kayla coming home from Snow College for a visit. She mentioned that she’d been given an
assignment to do a report on a historical figure. The instructor of her class had encouraged
the students to come up with someone more original than George Washington – in other
words, someone who hadn’t been overdone.
I jumped all over with ideas of my
own. Why not do Harriet Tubman? First of all, when one is told to think of a
historical figure, most people at that time would think of a man. I also think it’s a safe guess that most students
attending the class would also go with someone who was of Caucasian
background. I thought Harriet Tubman
would be an excellent choice, thus Kayla reluctantly agreed, and my mom and I
worked on her report before Kayla returned to Ephraim.
This morning Roland and I were watching the news and
learned that the 20-dollar bill picture of Andrew Jackson will be replaced by
Harriet Tubman. I think that is
awesome! Good for America!
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