Schumer Announces Push For Auburn's Historic Harriet Tubman Sites To Receive Key Federal Designation, Bring Millions Of Dollars To Promote Tourism, Legacy Of Underground Railroad Hero

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National Park Service to Visit Auburn Sites In Next Several Weeks To Evaluate And Determine Historic Designation

Schumer Announces He Will Introduce Legislation This Summer to Authorize Millions in Federal Dollars for Historic Sites -- Money Would Bring In Tourism Revenue, Preserve and Protect The Historic Sites Like Auburn's Tubman Locales

Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced that the National Park Service (NPS) will visit Civil War-era abolitionist and Underground Railroad conductor Harriet Tubman's historic sites in Auburn, taking further steps towards designating them as Federal Historic Sites. The designation would honor the legacy of an Underground Railroad hero, while bringing tourism revenue to the area. Schumer announced that the NPS is aiming to visit those sites in the next several weeks where they will also meet with the Mayor of Auburn and representatives from the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.

Several years ago, Senator Schumer secured Senate passage of legislation he introduced with the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan to recognize Tubman by requiring the U.S. Department of Interior to study the preservation and public use of local New York landmarks associated with her life. Tubman lived in Auburn, New York from 1857 until her death in 1913.

"Harriet Tubman was undoubtedly one of the earliest and most honorable civil rights leaders, helping African-Americans escape slavery using the Underground Railroad," Schumer said. "It is an honor to have such strong ties to Harriet Tubman's legacy in Auburn and this legislation will help preserve the memory of a true American hero. I will work to protect these historic sites so that New York's future generations will be able to learn from Harriet Tubman's courageous example."

Taking further steps in the legislative process, Senator Schumer announced he is drafting legislation to authorize millions of federal dollars for the historic site in an effort to preserve and protect the historic sites, and bring tourism revenue to the area. The exact amount to be authorized will be determined after the NPS visit evaluates the sites during their visit.

Born into slavery in Maryland, Harriet Tubman travelled the Underground Railroad to Freedom in 1849. Over ten years, she returned repeatedly to the places of her bondage to help shepherd family members and acquaintances to freedom in the north. During the Civil War she assisted Union troops as a nurse, a scout and spy throughout the deeps south. In 1868, Fredrick Douglas wrote that with the exception of John Brown he knew of "no one who has willingly encountered more perils and hardships to serve our enslaved peoples."

In 1859 Tubman purchased a parcel of land in Auburn, New York from abolitionist U.S. Senator William H. Seward. This property became a safe-haven for Tubman's newly-freed family and countless others who escaped slavery. Additionally, Tubman established one of the first homes for aged African Americans in the United State, which, she bequeathed to the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.

The legislation to be introduced by Schumer would preserve and promote the stewardship of several nationally significant resources in Auburn, including her residence, the Tubman Home for the Aged, the Thompson AME Zion Church and her final resting place in the Fort Hill Cemetery. These sites are expected to receive the designating of a National Historic Site and the NPS will work to preserve and link them together thematically. An exact figure will be established in consultation with the NPS, and will be used to rehabilitate historic structures and promote research, interpretation and public understanding of Harriet Tubman's life.

Several important Tubman sites in Maryland, will also receive funding and be linked thematically to the sites in Auburn as part of this legislation.

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