A revolutionary portrait of Harriet Tubman—told with the voice of history and the authority of family.
Harriet Tubman is one of the most iconic figures in American history, yet much of her true story has long been fragmented, misunderstood, or incomplete. While countless books recount her courage on the Underground Railroad, few explore the full scope of her strategic brilliance, military service, and lifelong leadership.
Harriet Tubman: Military Scout and Tenacious Visionary sets out to correct the record. Drawing on deep archival research and rare family oral history, authors Jean Marie Wiesen and Rita Daniels—Tubman’s great-great-great-grandniece—present the first biography to involve a Tubman family member since Harriet herself was interviewed in 1886.
This groundbreaking work reveals how Harriet’s childhood head injury limited her ability to complete early biographical interviews, leading to omissions that persisted for generations. It also uncovers her ancestral roots in Ghana, her role as a Union Army scout, spy, and strategist during the Civil War, and her tireless postwar activism as a suffragist, community leader, and founder of the Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged.
Richly detailed and deeply human, this book offers a nuanced portrait of a woman whose intelligence, resilience, and moral clarity shaped American history—and whose legacy continues to resonate today.
"Daniels, one of Tubman's descendants, imbues this corrective biography with humanity and family lore while shedding light on Tubman's contributions to the Union Army and her later activism in Auburn, N.Y."
“An intriguing, compelling, ambitious and well-researched book that gives insight into a world most of us have not encountered. Daniels and Wiesen go to remarkable depths to tell Harriet Tubman’s true story. It resonated with me to such profound levels that it sometimes moved me to tears.”
“In a world sorely lacking for genuine heroes, Harriet Tubman stands out. This book illuminates the origins and personal adversities suffered by Harriet Tubman, bringing her to life for the first time. We are inspired by Harriet’s character and courage. My thanks and appreciation to Rita Daniels and Jean Marie Wiesen for making this contribution to American history.”
"A comprehensive overview of Tubman’s life and work, co-authored by one of her descendants. As the United States moved into Civil War, Tubman was a spy, scout, and nurse in the Union Army, using her navigational skills and photographic memory to lead raids and advances. In spite of remaining illiterate throughout her life, Tubman spent more than 50 years after the war in Auburn, New York, supporting her family by fighting for equal voting rights, employment, and dignity for formerly enslaved people, culminating in her creation of the Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged. Wih Daniels—Tubman’s great-great-great-grandniece—as co-author, familiar aspects of Tubman’s story are accentuated and expanded with what she has gleaned from family lore. Character traits and sensibilities, like Tubman’s famed curative skills as an herbalist, are placed within a powerful context, linked not only to an abridged American narrative, but also to a family’s African roots and her descendants’ ongoing work. Having had a front-row seat to the many ways Tubman has been studied, dissected, and honored both in the United States and beyond, Daniels grants both authoritative history and authentic humanity to a story frequently segmented for political expediency or specialized study, leaving readers with a fuller understanding of Tubman's unique bravery, fortitude, and leadership."
