It’s common knowledge by now that the celebrated Underground Railroad “conductor” Harriet Tubman was a native of Dorchester County, and that she led people from this area to freedom in the North. Linda Harris, director of the Harriet Tubman Museum and Educational Center in Downtown Cambridge, has made it her job to give visitors some idea of what it was like for Tubman as she made her dangerous journeys in the mid-19th century. The Spy had a pleasant conversation with Ms. Harris about the walking tours she offers and why they’re so special.

When were your Underground Railroad and Harriet Tubman tours first offered?

I started two years ago, in 2023.

Why are they important?

Well, we have two museums here that will give you the history of Tubman, but there’s nothing like walking in the footsteps of the ancestors to really make this story impactful. So, that’s why I do it. It’s something different and people love it. I mean, walking is a metaphor, right? It’s a metaphor for one’s journey and personal growth. And that’s really what it represents. That’s what the enslaved people did. So, I like to tell the stories when I’m walking.

We do two walks, we do a downtown walk that kind of goes down Race Street. We go down High Street, cover all the history from when the slave ships were docked at Long Wharf. And while I’m walking, I’m talking about the history of Cambridge . . . that whole thing. And then I go into the story of Tubman and singing the code songs because the enslaved people, as they traversed it, they sang, and it was a way that they communicated in code. So, I do that one. But the most impactful one is the countryside walk. We drive to the Brodess sign and walk from Brodess to Bucktown store, go in the store. I’m very animated. I make that story come alive and then we make a round trip. I’m just talking about the areas that now are farms or formerly plantations and what went on there.

And it’s based on tons of reading that I’ve done. So, I make the story come alive. . . . But I will tailor any kind of walk. I have people who want specific kinds of walks. . . . I’ve walked from here to Philadelphia, from New York to Canada and Texas into Mexico. I’ve done the whole gamut of this Underground Railroad, so people can call me if they want a tailor-made walk. I will do it. I’m introducing a new walk in September. They put a new plaque for what they believe to be the location of her father’s house. Archaeologists found that a couple years ago. Harrisville Road. So, I’m introducing a new walk down Harrisville Road, and that walk will be free the first time, and then I will make that a regular.

Is that the “Tubman’s First Escape”?

Yes. “Tubman’s First Escape.”

Why is it important to do walks instead of, say, a tour bus or something?

Again, walking is symbolic. It’s a metaphor. When you think about walking, you’re walking either away from something or to something. The enslaved people walked to freedom. They broke the shackles that enslaved them, both their minds and their bodies, and they walked to freedom. So, I do it because I want people to know that we’re all on this Underground Railroad, metaphorically, we’re all trying to get somewhere to expand our personal growth in our minds. When we’re out there walking, looking around, it’s beautiful on the countryside, right? All this open air, the skies big and wide. I can tell the story, and people can really propel themselves back to that. Because as soon as I meet you, I tell you, “Forget about 2025. We are back in 1822. Think about what that’s like being on the plantations.” I tell folks, “If you open your minds and heart, you can hear them. You can feel them.” So, I break into song. I’m really animated. And they’re very captivated.

And then I’ll take my husband, he plays the banjo, and I have a bigger group. We’ll sing those code songs. So, when the enslaved people were brought here, when Harriet Tubman’s grandmother, 1750-ish, was brought to Long Wharf, she was put on a ship with people that she couldn’t communicate with. Because, on the West Coast of Africa, they have many dialects. So, they hummed, and humming is a very consoling medium, right? Once they got here, forced to learn English, the humming became the code songs, the field songs. Negro spirituals evolved into Blues, Jazz, Contemporary Rap, Funk, all of that was an evolution of music. So, when I’m doing that and telling the story, I’ll go from narrative to song seamlessly. People just get into the story, and it’s no longer about race or slavery. It’s a story about freedom. And that’s what I want to convey, because talking about slavery is hard. This country doesn’t want to deal with it. This whole town doesn’t want to deal with it. Although it’s the very thing that draws people here. Not the only thing, but a big thing.

But if you can kind of separate it and make it impactful for your own personal story, it’s powerful. And then I tell everyone, “We all have ancestors. We’re all immigrants, right? So, we all came from someplace else, and we had to walk that journey.” And that’s why I do it. I had no idea it was going to be so popular. . . . I want to refigure my story and bring in more information. What I’m doing now is, I’m studying the presidents. Tubman lived through 21 presidents. When she was born, it was James Monroe, when she died, Woodrow Wilson. So, I want to talk about the political climate. What was James Monroe doing? . . . What was the political climate? What was going on for the settlers? All of that. . . . I like to memorize things. I don’t want to have a piece of paper in front of me. I have to really work on that. And even the music, the songs during that time, I want to make sure that I’m coinciding with history as correctly as I can.

As was mentioned already, you’re doing the commemorative walk and concert on September 14 called “Tubman’s First Escape.” What’s that about?

As I said, a couple months ago they installed a new marker on Harrisville Road, across the street at the Woolford Store. I think it’s not the best place to put it, but when I talked with the folks who installed it, they said that people could pull over and look at the sign. If they put it on the Harrisville Road, that might have been disruptive for people living down that road. So, I’ve been back there multiple times. I’ve climbed over the fence. I probably shouldn’t have, but I’ve been to the actual site, and I was with the archaeologist being part of that dig. But I just want to show people where she was, where we think she was born. That road is so desolate.

It’s a dirt road. You know, woods are on both sides. And it’s unchanged, as far as I’m concerned. I think, if she came back, she would be very familiar with it. So, I want to walk people down that area. Not hearing the vehicles, the cars or any modern-day stuff, but really being able to just think and wrap your head around what it was like back then. And when you get back so far, it’s a dirt road and it’s mucky and it’s swampy back there. Mosquitoes, horseflies. I want [them to] be able to experience that to the extent that they can.

The event on September 14, that’s free.

Right, that’s going to be free.

But you accept donations?

Oh, yeah. Everything I do is donation. Everything, the walks, all of those things. I do that to raise money for the museum.

Will you be doing anything else special for International Underground Railroad Month in September?

Probably not walking, but I think we’ll probably do a couple of concerts. I’m hoping that our museum is up and running. When I first came here, I was doing Jazz at the mural. So, I think I’ll do a couple of concerts at the mural and have some spoken-word folks come in. I’ll announce that as time goes nearer.

You’ll be doing your annual Christmas Eve walk in December for the fifth year. What’s special about that?

That is so hugely popular. In 1854, [Tubman] comes back to get the two brothers who initially set out with her in 1849. They got frightened and turned back. But, once she became this “rock star” and had the ability to get people to freedom, the brothers said, “OK, you know what you’re doing.” So, she comes back to get them at the Thompson’s Plantation in Caroline County. I try to recreate that route. I leave from the Mount Pleasant Cemetery, on the road that runs parallel with the Thompson’s Plantation. We walk around the corner past the plantation. They don’t let me go on there. They let me on once, but then they said, “No, you can’t come back.” But I’m going to work on them. I think I can convert them like I did Bucktown’s Store. And then we go down this area, this swamp area to get to Choptank Landing. The walk is about four and-a-half miles.

And, the first couple of years, I did a round trip, but people got very annoyed with me because that’s a lot. And it gets dark and cold. One year when we did it, it was 13 degrees. That was pretty bitter. So, now I have a bus waiting for us at Choptank Landing to drive everybody back to their cars. They parked their cars along the Mount Pleasant Cemetery. But it’s an actual walk that occurred, because we know she came back there to get her brothers. And people are already asking me, “Are you going to do the Christmas Eve walk?” I can only take 45 people because it’s hard to manage. I have to cut people off, which is amazing that people come on Christmas Eve to do that walk.

You now have a radio station, WFHW FM 90.3. How did that come about?

Well, it’s been, I want to say two years, maybe three years in the making. [WHCP Manager] Mike Starling approached me when I first got here, and he said, “You’d be great for this.” I said, “I don’t know anything about a radio station.” And I should have said “no,” because it’s a lot of work. But, you know, there’s just one radio station, WHCP in Cambridge. The majority population here is African American and, I think, hugely underrepresented for a number of reasons. And when I first came, I had to meet with all the “big guys,” the “top dogs” here. And they said to me, “Well, we don’t need another radio station. This town can’t exist with two.” So, I gave them many examples of places that have two radio stations. And we have a responsibility to reflect the population. It’s OK to do that. We can come together.

So, that was the impetus for it. I’m excited, we’re going to be primarily music, but it’s going to be music and stories of interest. For instance, my midday programming will be a “Who do you think you are?” I want people to come in and tell me, “Are you from here? You’re not. Why don’t you come here? Are you connected with any of the descendants, and do you know your ancestors?” That will be the sort of midday talk. And I will, as we’re talking, throw in music in the morning. I’ll have three hours of music and talk. So, I’m working out with all of my musician friends. They’ve sent me their CDs, and I’m going to play their music, and that gives them exposure as well. So, I’m doing a real community thing. I want more people here to send in music. I’m getting more from outside than inside.

But the objective really is to reach the people here in Cambridge. Our range will be as far west as Easton, and we’ll get a little bit of Salisbury. It’s a small, low-powered station, but I’m thinking, over time, if we do it really well, and we get through this [presidential] administration, if we can get NPR, PBS, and those kinds of public financing back, maybe we’ll have a broader range.

How are you going to get the word out?

Well, we’re doing the opening. We’re going to have a launch on October 3 at Bethel Church. Bethel is so symbolic. It was organized in 1849, when Harriet Tubman did her first walk. So, the minister is going to let us have it there. [I’m] trying to get the governor to come. And [US Senator] Angela Alsobrooks, I’m working on that and a couple of other people, some of Tubman’s descendants. So, we’ve got to get out a press release and some flyers.

In its efforts to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion from the government, the Trump Administration has made Harriet Tubman less prominent on federal websites. What are you doing to combat this?

Well, when they tried to remove her face from the Park Service website and then change the name of the ship, I actually got interviewed. I mean, we need money in order to really be a mouthpiece. But I’m just constantly going about, as people are coming to talk and walk with me, I’m telling them the importance of Harriet Tubman. Harriet Tubman was an American, and this is American History, and it’s about strength, resilience, and courage, the very things that they tell us we should be in this country. So, I’m just constantly talking about Tubman. I told [the interviewer] we have absolutely no desire to change anything on our website. I post every day on Facebook. I post on my personal page and the museum’s page. Instagram as well. Just constantly getting out the work of Harriet Tubman and what she represents. So, that’s about all they can do.

Until they give you more money.

Until they give us more money. I did have a wonderful opportunity [recently]. I went down to Charleston, to the African American Museum Association. It’s a pretty big organization, which the African American Museum in DC is part of, and other prominent museums around the country. So, I met with one of their fundraisers and they told me that they’re going to help me pro bono, really get money. I’m hoping that that’s the case. I had to give a presentation down there. They were very impressed, so I hope to get support from that.

For more information or to book a tour, go to this website.

Watch a video interview Linda gave to The Spy back in 2021 here.