Heavenly Quilters Host Harriet Tubman Program

The Stephentown Heavenly Quilters will be hosting “The Life and Times of Harriet Tubman” program on Sunday, June 7, at 2 pm in the Sanctuary of the Stephentown Federated Church. The Church is located on Garfield Road and is wheel chair accessible. The program will feature Ann Bugbee,

“Portrait of Harriet Tubman.” Courtesy of the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University.

well known educator and historian at the Bennington Museum in Bennington, VT. A prelude of spiritual music will be presented by the Federated Church Choir and friends.
Harriet Tubman, born in Bucktown, Maryland, in 1820, was the only female “conductor” on the Underground Railroad.  She herself escaped slavery in 1850.  From then until 1861, she led over 300 slaves to freedom in Canada.  Operating after the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, she was considered a fugitive and had a price of $20,000 on her head – the most for any fugitive.
During the Civil War, Tubman served with the Massachusetts 54th, a black regiment, as a nurse and soldier and spy.  After the war, she retired to her home in Auburn, NY, where she cared for poor and sick African-Americans.  She died in Auburn at the age of 92 in 1913.  Harriet Tubman is quoted as saying, “On my Underground Railroad, I never ran my train off the track, and I never lost a passenger.”
Anne Bugbee developed the personae of Harriet Tubman over nine years ago for a program at the Bennington Museum, where she is an educator.  Since then she has introduced children, quilting groups, rotary and historical societies to Tubman.  In her program on June 7, she will present six-year-old Harriet and the reason she was determined to seek freedom and the hardships she faced as she matured, married and ran away.  Bugbee will also touch on the use of quilts as signals and on the Underground Railway in New York State and Vermont.
Along with the program, the Heavenly Quilters will be displaying several quilts including their  rendition of “The Underground Railroad Quilt.”  The theme for this quilt was chosen by the group so as to be part of the 225th celebration of Stephentown and the part this area played in the success of the Underground Railroad in the 1860s.  The drawing for a winner will take place on September 15.  Tickets will be available on the 7th and throughout the summer from members of the quilt group.
Refreshments will be available after the program.  Join us for a fun and informative afternoon.  For more information, call Donna at 518-733-5278 or Audrey at 518-733-5872.