Harriet Tubman Home Archaeology: Expressions of Spirituality, Community and Individuality

Author(s): Douglas Armstrong

Year: 2017

Summary

Archaeological and historical research at the Harriet Tubman Home has generated an extensive body of new data that sheds light on the complex and idiosyncratic life of this American icon.  This paper will examines expressions of Tubman’s spirituality which reflect both community based ideals and individualized expressions.  Tubman was an African American woman of strong beliefs with ties to many churches and ideologies, and much of her life was dedicated to the common good.  She was an activist who conducted scores of people to freedom, and later, from her home in Auburn and Fleming, New York, she carried championed women’s rights, and the care of the elderly and infirm.  Rooted in community ideals she had a personal, individualized, spirituality that was unbounded. This paper examines the material record of her life in Central New York in terms of spirituality and a complex integration of community mindedness and individual expression.

Cite this Record

Harriet Tubman Home Archaeology: Expressions of Spirituality, Community and Individuality. Douglas Armstrong. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Fort Worth, TX. 2017 ( tDAR id: 435414)

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Keywords

Spatial Coverage

min long: -129.199; min lat: 24.495 ; max long: -66.973; max lat: 49.359 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 334