Harriet Tubman was guided by a deep faith and devotion to family, freedom, and community. After emancipating herself and members of her family, she moved them from Ontario, Canada to Fleming and Auburn, New York in 1859.
She is the Underground Railroad’s best known conductor and before the Civil War repeatedly risked her life to guide nearly 70 enslaved people north to new lives of freedom.
Central New York was a center for progressive thought, abolition, and women’s suffrage where Tubman continued to fight for human rights and dignity until she died in 1913.
Harriet Tubman National Historical Park is in Auburn and Fleming, New York. It comprises three properties: the Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged, in Auburn; the nearby Harriet Tubman Residence (just across the city/town line in Fleming); and the Thompson A.M.E. Zion Church in Auburn. They are located at 180 and 182 South Street, and 90 Franklin Street, respectively. The Zion Church unit is administered by the National Park Services (NPS), while the South Street properties, including a historic barn and a visitor center, are jointly managed and operated by both the NPS and the Harriet Tubman Home, Inc. The church also works with the NPS in park operations.