Harriet Tubman: Underground Railroad Conductor and $20 Bill

There’s a reason Harriet Tubman commands recognition: her life reads like a thriller with escapes and secret missions. She transformed from enslaved field hand to conductor, Union spy, and face of the proposed new $20 bill.

Full Name: Araminta Ross (later Harriet Tubman) ·
Born: c. March 1822 ·
Died: March 10, 1913 ·
Known For: Conductor on the Underground Railroad ·
People Rescued: Approximately 70 enslaved people ·
Nickname: Moses

Six key facts about Harriet Tubman, drawn from authoritative sources:

What is Harriet Tubman best known for?

Harriet Tubman is best known for her role as a conductor on the Underground Railroad, a secret network that helped enslaved people escape to freedom. But her reputation as the “Moses of her people” only begins that story.

The Underground Railroad

The Underground Railroad was not a physical railway but a covert system of safe houses, routes, and sympathetic individuals. Tubman escaped from Maryland in 1849, and instead of settling in Philadelphia, she turned back again and again. According to the National Women’s History Museum, she made approximately 13 missions and brought about 70 enslaved African Americans to freedom between 1850 and 1860. Some broader estimates, including Britannica’s figure of 19 trips and 300 people, reflect a wider accounting that includes family and multiple networks.

Conductor and Rescuer

After the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 made recapture a constant threat even in free states, Tubman shifted her rescue routes to Canada. She reportedly never lost a passenger during her direct missions, though later biographers note this claim rests on University at Buffalo archive oral tradition rather than operational records. She used disguises, traveled at night, and carried a revolver to both threaten faint-hearted escapees and defend against slave catchers.

Abolitionist Activism

Beyond rescues, Tubman spoke at abolitionist rallies alongside Frederick Douglass and John Brown. She supported Brown’s Harpers Ferry raid and later bought a farm near Auburn, New York, where she housed family and followers. The National Park Service preserves that property today as the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park.

The implication: Tubman’s abolitionist work wasn’t limited to individual escapes—she built an infrastructure of resistance that connected free communities in the North with enslaved networks in the South.

The pattern: Tubman’s ability to turn personal trauma into collective action defined her lasting influence.

What happened to Tubman when she was 13?

A single violent incident when she was a young teenager shaped the rest of her life.

Head Injury at a General Store

Around age 13, Tubman was struck in the head with a heavy metal weight thrown by an overseer at a general store. The weight was meant for a fleeing enslaved man, but it hit Tubman instead. The trauma fractured her skull and caused lifelong neurological symptoms. Biography.com describes the injury as causing seizures, severe headaches, and sudden sleeping spells.

Long-Term Consequences

The blow led to temporal lobe epilepsy and hypersomnia—uncontrollable episodes of deep sleep. Tubman also experienced vivid visions and auditory sensations, which she interpreted as divine communications. According to National Geographic, these “sleeping spells” continued throughout her life and even occurred during her Civil War service. Medical historians now understand these as post-traumatic epilepsy.

The pattern: A single act of violence produced a chronic condition that, by her own account, deepened her spiritual resolve and drove her determination to free others.

What is Harriet Tubman’s disability?

The head injury directly caused her disability, now medically identifiable as temporal lobe epilepsy.

Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

Modern neurologists, including researchers cited by NLM/NCBI, associate Tubman’s symptoms—seizures, déjà vu, olfactory hallucinations—with epilepsy originating in the temporal lobe. The injury likely damaged her brain’s limbic system, triggering spontaneous neural activity that produced both seizures and religious-like experiences.

Sleeping Spells and Visions

Tubman described her visions as “the Lord” speaking to her. She would suddenly fall asleep during conversations or while traveling, then wake up convinced she had received instructions. The Harriet Tubman.org notes these episodes increased in frequency as she aged. Because she acted on these visions, they became a practical tool for navigation and planning risky rescues.

The trade-off: The same brain disorder that caused suffering also provided her with an extraordinary sense of mission. It’s a medical paradox that historians are still unpacking.

What were Harriet’s last words?

Tubman died on March 10, 1913, at the age of about 91. The pneumonia that took her was not unexpected—she had been in declining health for years.

Final Illness

In her last months, Tubman was bedridden at the home for the elderly she had founded in Auburn, New York. Biography.com reports that she was surrounded by family and friends. Her adopted daughter Gertie and second husband Nelson Davis had predeceased her.

Reported Last Words

The most commonly repeated version of her last words is, “I go away to prepare a place for you,” a reference to the biblical book of John. The exact phrasing is debated; some sources say she murmured, “Swing low, sweet chariot,” a reference to the spiritual she loved. Harriet Tubman.org attributes the “I go away” quote to attendants at her bedside, but notes no contemporaneous newspaper confirmed it. What’s certain, according to National Park Service, is that she died with her faith intact and her legacy already established.

The catch: The lack of a primary record for her last words means we must rely on secondhand accounts, but the essence—hope and preparation for an afterlife—matches everything we know about her spirituality.

Are they still putting Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill?

The plan to put Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill has been a political tug-of-war since it was first announced in 2016.

History of the Redesign

In April 2016, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew announced that Tubman would replace Andrew Jackson on the front of the new $20 note. The decision followed a grassroots campaign (Women on 20s) and was timed to coincide with the centennial of women’s suffrage. The New York Times reported that the redesign was originally scheduled for 2020 to mark the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment.

Current Status and Timeline

Under the Trump administration, the timeline was delayed, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in 2019 the redesign wouldn’t be completed until 2028. President Biden reinstated Tubman’s inclusion in 2021, and the current target is 2030. However, as of 2025, no final design has been released. The U.S. Treasury states that the note is still in the design phase, with security features being tested.

The implication: Tubman will almost certainly appear on the $20 bill eventually, but the timing depends on both technical and political factors. For a nation debating whose stories belong on currency, the delay itself is a statement.

Timeline of key events

• c. March 1822 – Born Araminta Ross in Dorchester County, Maryland (Britannica)
• 1849 – Escaped slavery via the Underground Railroad (Britannica)
• 1850–1860 – Made about 13 missions to rescue enslaved people (National Women’s History Museum)
• 1861–1865 – Served as a Union spy and scout during the Civil War (Britannica)
• 1863 – Led the Combahee Ferry Raid, freeing over 750 enslaved people (Harriet Tubman.org)
• 1913 – Died of pneumonia in Auburn, New York (Biography.com)
• 2016 – Treasury announced plan to place Tubman on the $20 bill (New York Times)
• 2030 (proposed) – Current target date for $20 bill redesign (U.S. Treasury)

The arc: From enslaved child to national icon, Tubman’s timeline traces a path of resistance and recognition that is still unfolding.

What’s confirmed, what’s still unclear

The meta: The boundary between confirmed and uncertain highlights how historical research continues to refine Tubman’s story.

Harriet Tubman in her own words

“I freed a thousand slaves I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves.” — Harriet Tubman, as quoted in Harriet Tubman.org

“I had reasoned this out in my mind: there was one of two things I had a right to, liberty or death; if I could not have one, I would have the other.” — Harriet Tubman, from her biography by Britannica

Reported last words: “I go away to prepare a place for you.” — Attendants at her bedside, as cited by Harriet Tubman.org

Harriet Tubman transformed herself from a physically enslaved child into a liberator, a spy, and an icon. For anyone studying American history, the lesson is clear: her story is not just about the past—it’s about a struggle over whose names we honor and whose faces we carry in our wallets. For policymakers and activists, the question remains: will the $20 bill finally bear the face of a woman who risked everything so that others might be free?

Frequently asked questions

Related reading

• Mary Ann Shadd Cary: Abolitionist, Publisher, Lawyer Biography – Another 19th-century Black female abolitionist who fought for freedom through journalism and law.
• To Kill a Mockingbird: Summary, Message, Controversy & More – A literary exploration of racial injustice in America, complementing Tubman’s story of resistance.

The connection: These profiles deepen the context of racial justice struggles that Tubman helped to pioneer.