On Saturday, September 9 at 2 p.m., the John Brown Farm State Historic Site will present a living history performance based on the life of Harriet Tubman. This program offers a close look into the life and achievements of Harriet Tubman (known also as General Moses), whose life was a monument to courage and determination that continues to stand out in American history. This event is free and open to the public, and will take place outdoors under the tent in the picnic area.

This performance will be given by Charmaine Crowell-White, a graduate of San Jose State University (CA). Charmaine is a talented and accomplished theater arts professional who integrates her dedication, perspectives, and skills into a wide range of educational and performance settings. Her many services range from actor, storyteller, and living history interpreter to theater enrichment artist and instructor, leadership workshop director, and program planner for other performing arts occasions. Charmaine has practiced and refined her craft for over twenty years.

Her specialty is one-woman live stage performances that “open windows” into the past and transport engaged audiences into the often overlooked lives of extraordinary African-American women and their ambitions, struggles, heroism, and survival in the face of racism and violence. The desired and usual outcome is that younger generations are enlightened and inspired by the lessons of life gleaned from the stories told.

Born with the name Araminta “Minty” Ross, Harriet Tubman was married to a free man when she began her dangerous journey from Maryland to Philadelphia in 1849 on foot because she feared that she was about to be sold to a plantation in the South. Determined not to live her life under the harsh conditions of American slavery, she escaped. When she returned years later for her husband, who was a free man, she discovered he had married again; so Harriet found more enslaved people who were searching for freedom to go back with her.

She returned to the South thirteen times to rescue and escort hundreds of people seeking freedom in the North. She was a fearless conductor on the secret network known as The Underground Railroad. Harriet Tubman was a cook, nurse, and spy for Union forces during the American Civil War. In 1863, she was the first woman to lead an armed attack in the War, liberating 700 slaves in the process. She said, “I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger.”

The John Brown Farm is located at 115 John Brown Road, a half mile north of State Route 73, in North Elba 2 miles east of the village of Lake Placid.

For further information, you may contact the park office at (518) 527-0191 or email brendan.mills@parks.ny.gov.

State Parks oversees more than 250 parks, historic sites, recreational trails, golf courses, boat launches and more, which were visited by a record 74 million people last year.

For more information on any of these recreation areas, call (518) 474-0456, visit www.parks.ny.gov, or check them out on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Photo at top: Charmaine Crowell-White will portray Harriet Tubman in a performance at the John Brown Farm State Historic Site. Photo provided by Brendan Mills, Interpretive Program Assistant at John Brown Farm State Historic Site.