Scope and arrangement
The Harriet Tubman research materials represent the results of several years of research by historian-journalist Earl Conrad into the life and activities of Harriet Tubman, known as the Moses of her people because of the over 300 slaves she lead to freedom via the Underground Railroad. The collection consists of correspondence between Conrad and potential sources of relevant information and documentation; research notes from published works; statements and texts of interviews with members of Harriet Tubman's family as well as with persons who knew or worked with her, and the various typescripts and drafts preceeding Conrad's completed publications.
The collection was assembled while the research was being done, generally in 1939 and 1940, and therefore reflects the documents and resources available at that time.
The Harriet Tubman research material is arranged in eight series:
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1939-1941
This series consists of letters from Earl Conrad to potential sources of information relating to the life and activities of Harriet Tubman, and their responses. The potential sources included historians specializing in the abolitionist movement and the post-Civil War years, librarians in the various communities in which Harriet Tubman had lived or based her operations at one time or another, and such national repositories as the Library of Congress, National Archives, and the British Museum where the official records documenting her life and activities were kept.
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1856-1938
Research notes is composed of Earl Conrad's notes taken from relevant published works. These works include histories of the period in which Harriet Tubman was active; biographies of contemporary figures; and articles in various newspapers and magazines (especially those which focused their attention on social movements, i.e. Abolition and Women's Suffrage) such as the National Anti-Slavery Standard, Liberator, and Boston Commonwealth. Notes were also taken from the general press (New York Times and New York Herald), the Black press (Frederick Douglass' Newspaper) and local newspapers (Auburn Citizen and Post-Standard).
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1938-1941
Publishers' correspondence includes Conrad's correspondence with various publishers in an attempt to get his completed manuscripts on Tubman published. The letters are important in that they illustrate the strong resistance put forth by the publishing industry against anything relating to the Black experience, even when it dealt with an historical figure of Harriet Tubman's stature. These letters also document the results of an attempt to have the work published in serial form in magazines and newspapers.
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1905-1940
Statements and interviews consists of notes and transcripts of interviews with people who knew or worked with Harriet Tubman and members of her family. They were important sources who gave direction toward further documentation of her activities. They also illustrate the impact that she had had on those around her and the high regard in which she was held even into her later years and after her death.
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1914-1941
This series consists of other materials which were deposited in the Schomburg Collection by Earl Conrad. Most are related to Tubman, though some are not. Included are programs distributed at the unveiling of a bronze tablet dedicated to her memory in Auburn, New York.
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1839-1940
The series consists of other materials which were deposited in the Schomburg Collection by Earl Conrad. Most are related to Tubman, though some are not. Included are newspaper clippings on specific events in her life, pamphlets about her, and articles which appeared shortly after her death.
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1940
This series consists of other materials which were deposited in the Schomburg Collection by Earl Conrad. Most are related to Tubman, though some are not. Included are a number of photographs.
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This series consists of various drafts and typescripts of the books and articles about Harriet Tubman which developed out of the research materials represented in the preceeding six series. In processing the papers an attempt was made to reconstruct the drafts as they progressed to the final stage. Where this was not possible an attempt was made to key the bits and pieces to the chapters in the publication Harriet Tubman(Washington, D.C., The Associated Publishers, Inc., 1943). Unfortunately, some fragments remained which could not be related to specific parts of the books, therefore these appear at the end of the series in a number of folders labeled "Unidentified Fragments."