Harriet Tubman descendant visits NJ, discusses legacy & story beyond underground railroad
For many, Harriet Tubman is a name you read in history books. She is an iconic American heroine and an abolitionist, but to Galvin, the freedom fighter is simply Aunt Harriet.
Michele Jones Galvin, the great, great, great grandniece of Harriet Tubman, co-authored a book called "Beyond the Underground. Aunt Harriet, Moses of her People."
For many, Harriet Tubman is a name you read in history books.
She is an iconic American heroine and an abolitionist, but to Galvin, the freedom fighter is simply Aunt Harriet.
"It’s way beyond the underground, but it’s also beyond her being an iconic figure. It’s about her being a sister, aunt, daughter friend, we find all of those things in the book," Jones Galvin said.
The book gives a behind-the-scenes look at Harriet Tubman’s life through her maternal family tree. The legwork and the length work to explore the branches and bring them to fruition goes back over three decades, starting with Jones Galvin's mother, Dr. Joyce Stokes Jones.
"This vision of having a book on Aunt Harriet was really my mother’s vision and it was her energy, and it was her determination, and it was her way of connecting to Aunt Harriet who she found out that she was related to as a little girl," Jones Galvin said.
Jones Galvin is in the Garden State to share that vision and the story of her ancestor while busting myths about her three-times great grand aunt like how many people she helped get to freedom.
"The point shouldn’t be the number necessarily, what it should really be about is how many humans was she able to actually bring out of the jaws of slavery," Jones Galvin said.
In collaboration with Middlesex County and the local NAACP branch, Jones Galvin participated in a program aimed at exploring Middlesex County’s African American History
"The message is here, and my mom and I did this for years and without mom I’m now the lone messenger but I’m happy to do it because I think the story needs to be told," Jones Galvin said.
