Heroines, “Harriet”, & Formative Reads
Last Thursday, I refeatured a post on Writing Epic Heroines, from the blog backlist — and promised a spinoff post for today.
I chose Writing Epic Heroines because I had recently viewed the film Harriet on Netflix, which tells the story of Harriet Tubman.
Harriet was born a slave in the American South, but escaped to freedom in the north, and went on to become one of the most famous “conductors” on the Underground Railroad: i.e. she led (or ‘conducted’) other slaves to freedom by means of a system of secret routes and safe houses.
She operated as a Union spy during the Civil War, including leading a military operation to free slaves working in critical industries, and was a leader in both the civil rights and women’s suffrage movements for the rest of her long life.
To find out more, check out:
Smithsonian Magazine: The True Story Behind The Harriet Tubman Movie
The film was not my first encounter with Harriet Tubman, however. On starting primary school, many years ago, the very first book I chose for myself from the Scholastic Book Club was Runaway Slave: The Story of Harriet Tubman (1965), written by Ann McGovern.
I am not sure, now, why I selected it, but once read, I know it made a profound impression. I was shocked by the existence of slavery and how enslaved people were treated, and I admired Harriet immensely: her courage and resolution in the face of adversity, and her commitment to freedom and service to others.
In terms of writing epic heroines, my ideas of what constitutes a heroine have been shaped by real figures in history. Harriet Tubman was the first such heroine that I encountered and I still consider her an exemplar. In terms of the life she lived and the example set, she has unquestionably influenced my notions of what makes a heroine, and therefore my fictional writing and characters.
I live in the part of world where Harriet Tubman was from, although she started on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay and I live closer to Baltimore. We learn about her in elementary school as a local hero. There’s a local road “Harriet Tubman Lane” immediately next to Freetown Farm, some of the only land around here that was owned by Black folk. Maryland was a “border state” in the US Civil War, with rural and southern counties participating in slavery. The great battlefield of Gettysburg is only 1.5 hours away. All this to say … it’s still relevant (sadly) and Harriet Tubman is a personal hero of mine too! If you’re ever on the East Coast of the USA, I’d happily take you for a tour.
That sounds fascinating, Kristen — and I would love to take that personalized tour! Somehwen that is both ATBID & when international travel resumes again… :-/
I started watching the netflix show but when I realised that there was a fair amount of licence with the story I got a bit disillusioned. I did go off and do a bit of reading about her though as I was interested to find out more about her. An amazing woman indeed.
License with the historical stories is very much the way, alas—although the Smithsonian article suggests the fundamentals were reasonable accurate (especially by TV fiction standards.) And I thought the main actress, Cynthia Erivo, was compelling as Harriet—whose life certainly repays the additional reading you did.