Kate Clifford Larson - Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman: Portrait of an American Hero

HIS BIOGRAPHY WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE WITHOUT THE contributions of many individuals and institutions. I am particularly indebted to my dissertation committee members, J. William Harris, Ellen Fitzpatrick, W. Jeffrey Bolster, and John Ernest, all from the University of New Hampshire, and Jacqueline Jones, from Brandeis University. Thank you for your amazing efforts in guiding this biography to completion. I am also indebted to numerous institutions that provided me with financial support, including a University Dissertation Fellowship and a Summer Fellowship for Graduate Students from the University of New Hampshire; a Mary Catherine Mooney Fellowship from the Boston Athenaeum; a Margaret Storrs Grierson Scholar-in-Residence Fellowship from the Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College; a Research Fellowship from the John Nicholas Brown Center for the Study of American Civilization at Brown University; a Price Research Fellowship from the William L. Clements Library at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; and a Legacy Fellowship from the American Antiquarian Society.

There have been many, many other people along the path of research for this biography to whom I am also greatly indebted. The librarians, archivists, and staffs at the following institutions deserve special acknowledgment for their patience and diligence in helping me find records and documents. Many of them are working with limited staff and funding, and I appreciate the efforts they expended on behalf of my work. Thanks to the Maryland State Archives, Maryland Historical Society, Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College Library, Cornell Special Collections Department, Boston Public Library Rare Book Room, Boston Athenaeum, American Antiquarian Society, John Nicholas Brown Center, William L. Clements Library, Dorchester County Public Library, Seymour Public Library (Auburn, New York), Houghton Library and Schlesinger Library at Harvard, Syracuse University Special Collections Library, Troy (New York) Public Library, Special Collections Department at the University of Rochester, St. Catharines Museum, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, National Archives, Library of Congress, Swarthmore College Special Collections Department, Schomburg Library, Winchester Public Library, Harriet Tubman Home (Auburn, New York), Harriet Tubman Organization (Cambridge, Maryland), University of New Hampshire Library, Dorchester County Register of Wills, Cayuga County Clerk's Office (Auburn, New York), and Lambton County Library (Sarnia, Ontario, Canada). There are also many others around the country who graciously and professionally tracked down references, often very obscure, in their collections. I am indebted to the untold numbers of genealogists around the country who post their research on the Internet's numerous genealogy Web sites; this has made much of my detailed research into family histories far easier and more accurate. I am also deeply grateful to the Harriet Tubman relatives I have met, particularly Judith Bryant, whose early support and enthusiasm carried me through many a difficult day. There are other individuals I would like to acknowledge and thank as well, including Jean Humez, Jim McGowan, Milt Sernett, John Creighton, Barbara Mackey, Bonnie Ryan, Vicki Sandstead, Beth Crawford, Dennis Gannon, Susan and Jay Meredith, Kay McKelvey, Charles Blockson, Mark Solomon, Nell Painter, Harriet Alonzo, Paul Hutchinson, Pauline Copes Johnson, Pat Lewis, Bradley Skelcher, Gary Broadus, Robert Stewart, Helen Maddox, Gwen Robinson, Brian Prince, Harriet Price, Arden Phair, Don Schaefer, Mike Long, Ward DeWitt, Stephanie Bryant, Rachel Bryant, Peggy Brooks-Bertram, Frank Newton, Harold Ruark, J. O. K. Walsh, Pat Guida, Vivian Abdur-Rahim, Paul and Mary Liz Stewart, Scott Christianson, Sid Taylor, and Mariline Wilkins. Thank you all. I would also like to thank my friends for their kindness and helpfulness while I worked on my dissertation, and then as I re-crafted that work into this book. Gretchen Adams deserves special note for listening and advising so well over the years. I thank also my agent, Doe Coover, for having such faith in me and this work, and my editor, Elisabeth Dyssegaard, whose expert guidance and patience helped bring this biography to print.

The most important acknowledgments go to my family, and in particular my husband, Spencer, and children, Rebecca and Trevor, who embraced Harriet as another member of our family. They gave up vacations, weekends, and evenings while I spent all my time researching and writing this biography. I do not know where they found the patience to continue to support me with love and enthusiasm. Thank you for everything.