January 5, 2010

Visit with Aunt Harriet for Black History Month
“As close to meeting Harriet Tubman as you will ever come”

Actors, singers and historians, James and Karol Brown, will perform as Harriet Tubman and Brother Ely in a living history presentation after hours at the Olympia Timberland Library on Friday, February 12, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. A question-and-answer period will follow the program.

The Browns’ aim is to bring people as close to meeting Harriet Tubman as they will ever come. Tubman, known as “the Moses of her people,” was the most renowned conductor on the Underground Railroad, a secret cooperative network that helped fugitive slaves reach sanctuary in the years before the abolition of slavery in the United States.

The presentation visits Tubman as an elderly woman looking back over her life. Aunt Harriet, as her friends call her, talks about slavery, her faith, family, and friends who risked their own freedom to help runaway slaves. Her stories are examples of how faith, unity, brotherly love and commitment to helping others were important in the fight for freedom.

James Brown is a storyteller with a smooth tenor singing voice. As Brother Ely, the Care Taker, he takes the audience back to 1912 to visit with Harriet Tubman in the parlor of the convalescent home she founded in Auburn, New York. Tubman lived there until she died on March 10, 1913 at age 92. Throughout the performance, James sings selections from the old spirituals that enrich our African-American heritage.

Karol Brown has researched the life of Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad for over 10 years. Her stories capture Tubman’s emotions, imagination and humanity.

The performance is a Humanities Washington, Inquiring Mind presentation. The library is at 313 8th Avenue SE. For more information, call the library at (360) 352-0595 or go to www.TRL.org.

Timberland Regional Library provides for the information, reading and lifelong learning needs of the Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, and Thurston county public at 27 community public libraries and 7 library service partner locations. The library system is funded mainly by local property taxes. Anyone needing special accommodations to participate in a library’s program may contact the library one week in advance.

evised 01/31/10