Montgomery County college officers named its new elementary college in Gaithersburg, Md., after Harriet Tubman, making it one of many first faculties — and the one one in trendy occasions — in Tubman’s house state to have her namesake, in line with a registry of colleges from the Maryland Division of Schooling.
Maryland
In Harriet Tubman’s home state of Maryland, a new school bears her name
The Montgomery County Board of Schooling accredited the college’s title at a board assembly earlier this month. Brenda Wolff, president of the college board, referred to as it an honor to be part of the method that named the college for Tubman, who Wolff known as her “shero.”
“It ought to have occurred a very long time in the past,” Wolff mentioned.
Historians say the well-known abolitionist was born in modern-day Madison, Md. in 1822. She spent the primary 27 years of her life on two plantations earlier than she escaped enslavement to Philadelphia in 1849, in line with Linda Harris, director of occasions and packages on the Harriet Tubman Museum and Academic Middle in Dorchester County. She returned to Maryland in 1850, roughly 9 to 10 months later, after listening to that her enslaved niece was going to be offered. Tubman got here again to Maryland an extra 13 occasions to information 70 enslaved folks to freedom.
“She is the one one which we’re conscious of that got here again that many occasions anyplace on the Underground Railroad,” Harris mentioned.
Tubman is credited with serving to abolitionist John Brown orchestrate the raid on Harpers Ferry, W.Va. Through the Civil Warfare, she labored as a spy for the Union Military, gathering intelligence behind Accomplice strains from enslaved Black folks. She was the primary lady to efficiently plan and lead a navy expedition through the Civil Warfare.
“Everybody is aware of her basic story, however they don’t know lots of the element,” Harris mentioned. “And the frequent thread is her want to assist different folks.”
The college’s naming course of started in March, after the board handed a decision that beneficial three names: Kelley Park Elementary Faculty, Celia Cruz Elementary Faculty and Cesar Chavez Elementary Faculty. A 13-person committee was assembled by the college’s principal, Cavena J. Griffith, to resolve the official title of the college.
By means of the method, the group pitched two different potential names: Harriet R. Tubman Elementary Faculty and Lucille Bridges Elementary Faculty. In a neighborhood survey, a majority voted for Harriet R. Tubman Elementary Faculty as their first or second alternative.
Board members formally accredited the Tubman title at a Could 10 assembly.
Throughout a presentation to the college board on the chosen title, Griffith defined how Tubman’s legacy aligned with the college system’s 5 core values of studying, relationships, fairness, respect and excellence.
“Harriet R. Tubman selflessly made the choice to danger her freedom and life by returning to Maryland as a way to free numerous enslaved Black or African People,” Griffith mentioned in her presentation to the board.
Griffith added the naming course of occurred throughout March, which is Ladies’s Historical past Month. It additionally coincided with Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan naming 2022 “The 12 months of Harriet Tubman,” to coincide with the two hundredth anniversary of Tubman’s beginning.
“It’s really inspiring to consider how we are able to stroll alongside the identical path as she did, the place she solid her indelible legacy of freedom,” Griffith mentioned.
Board member Rebecca Smondrowski (District 2) mentioned the presentation made her a “little teary,” due to how thorough it was in addressing Tubman’s historical past and the college system’s values.
“I really feel very, very proud to be supporting this theme alternative,” Smondrowski mentioned.
The college is scheduled to open to college students for the 2022-23 educational yr.
When it opens, it is going to be her solely namesake college in Maryland, in line with state college listings. (D.C. has Harriet Tubman Elementary Faculty within the Columbia Heights neighborhood.)
However it isn’t the primary college within the state to be named after her. In 1949, Harriet Tubman Faculty opened as Howard County’s solely all-Black highschool till it closed by desegregation in 1965.
Howard County neighborhood members, led by alumni from the college, started organizing in 2004 to protect it. In 2018, the historic constructing’s possession was transferred from Howard County Public Faculties to the county authorities, to repurpose the positioning as an academic and cultural heart.
Bessie Bordenave, 78, graduated from there in 1962. She mentioned everybody within the college was like a household. It was a particular place and a great college, she mentioned.
“After it was closed, we determined that one thing actually wanted to be completed concerning the college,” Bordenave mentioned.
She now serves because the president of the Harriet Tubman Basis and chair of the Harriet Tubman Faculty Advisory Council. The constructing is projected to reopen in July, with an arts room, youth heart and recreated school rooms from when the Tubman college was in operation.
Bordenave added that it was good one other college in Tubman’s house state could be named after her.
Again in Montgomery County, Wolff mentioned she believed the college would ship a message of feat to college students — particularly Black college students — within the district.
“It offers you hope as to what’s doable,” Wolff mentioned.