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Underground Railroad ‘conductor’ Harriet Tubman was born in Dorchester County around 1822. At this small museum in downtown Cambridge – just a few miles from where she grew up – learn of the strength, courage, and determination of this remarkable woman.
The Harriet Tubman Museum & Education Center was started in the 1980s – and is still run by – dedicated local volunteers who want to share Harriet Tubman’s story and preserve her legacy. The museum building features a powerful and moving mural of Harriet Tubman that has attracted attention from around the country. The mural was commissioned by the Dorchester Center for the Arts and completed in May 2019 by artist Michael Rosato.
NOTE: This museum is different from the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center, which opened in 2017 in Church Creek, Maryland, about a 20-minute drive from downtown Cambridge. Find out more about the Tubman Visitor Center.
The Harriet Tubman Museum offers exhibits and a short film about Tubman’s life, as well as a resource area. Groups are welcome; please call ahead. The museum can also organize tours of the area where Tubman lived and toiled. The museum is usually open Tuesday through Friday, 12-3pm, and Saturday, 12-4pm. There is no admission fee but donations are welcome.
After growing up on the Brodess Farm in Bucktown in Dorchester County, Tubman later escaped from slavery and returned 13 times to lead other enslaved people to freedom using the secret network of people and sites known as the Underground Railroad. She later served as a Civil War spy and nurse, a suffragist, and a humanitarian.
The Tubman Museum and Educational Center is part of the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway, a self-guided, scenic driving tour with more than 30 sites related to freedom seekers in the 1800s. For more information, visit the Tubman Byway website or stop by the Dorchester Visitor Center, 2 Rose Hill Place in Cambridge, MD.
