Six Things

Six Things You May Not Know About Harriet Tubman

By Maegan Vazquez

It’s official: Harriet Tubman will replace President Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill.

Tubman is mostly known as the conductor of the Underground Railroad, leading hundreds of former slaves to their freedom in the north. That alone is enough to give Harriet Tubman the enduring reputation she has, but here are a few other ways she led a pretty amazing life.

1. Harriet Tubman liberated herself while she was sick and injured

At a young age, Tubman sustained a head injury and dealt with complications like dizziness, seizures, and narcolepsy. These symptoms carried on throughout her life.

In 1849, her owner tried to sell her off because of her illness, but found no buyers. A year later, still suffering from the injury, her owner’s family decided to sell off the rest of their slaves. Harriet didn’t want her family to be separated in the sales, so she planned their escape. She used to the Underground Railroad to get to Pennsylvania.

2. She made sure to pack heat while freeing slaves. According to one of the leading historians to study Tubman:

“Harriet Tubman carried a small pistol with her on her rescue missions, mostly for protection from slave catchers, but also to encourage weak-hearted runaways from turning back and risking the safety of the rest of the group. Tubman carried a sharp-shooters rifle during the Civil War.”

3. She was a master of disguise

Tubman’s ‘Wanted’ signs noted that she was illiterate, so she would pull up a book when she overheard someone talking about her posters.

On another occasion, Tubman disguised herself as an old woman buying chickens. After seeing her old master on the street, she would ‘lose’ the chickens and scramble after them. The whole town would be distracted by loose poultry and she would make her escape.

4. She was a Jane of all trades

After Tubman did her stint as the Underground Railroad conductor, she served in the Union as a cook, a nurse, and a spy. At one point, when other soldiers complained that she was being favored by receiving war rations in exchange for her work as a nurse, Tubman agreed to stop receiving the rations and instead earned money by selling pies, gingerbread and root beer on the side.

5. She was a cougar

At 56 years old, Tubman began her second marriage with Nelson Davis, a man 22 years her junior. Together, they owned a piece of land in New York and when Tubman was 61, they adopted a baby girl named Gertie.

6. She casually handled the pain of brain surgery without anesthesia

In Tubman’s later years, she underwent brain surgery at Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital to alleviate the pain and symptoms she had from her lifelong head injury. She did the whole thing the way her fellow Union soldiers did: awake and in pain.

And now her face will appear in the same category as presidents and Founding Fathers.