Harriet Tubman Memorial :
Historian : « The Harriet Tubman Memorial was constructed
in 2007 and designed by the artist
Alison Saar.We are at the intersection of 122nd and Frederick Douglas Boulevard.
H T is the first African American woman here in NYC and was founded
by a black American elected official, who she thought there was a lot of honor
to the man but no representation for the women.
So, you see HT is facing South unlike Frederick Douglas, so the
silver dialogue between the two players of the same period in sculptural form
here in Harlem.
Her going south in the statue is the recognition that not
only did she come once and bring people but she returned and endangered herself
to do it more than one time.
So as you look at the base of the statue, it really captures
the images of the people that she brought from slavery to freedom. And along
with it, the artist wants to show tokens of the things that she might have carried
with her, like a pocket knife, a key, here are some beads.(….).
As you look at the
statue, If you look at the base below the figure, you’ll see this is a series of
tile patterns which actually reflect different quote patterns. So you’ll see
where she is actually jumping over a broom which represents marriage. There is
one where she is struck by an iron, an element reflects her revelation, where
she kind of saw her mission in terms of going forward, as bringing slaves forward
has some godly connections.As you go
around you’ll see different ones that kind of speak to that.
Source : youtube Biography 2013.
