Harriet Tubman

William H. Johnson, Harriet Tubman, ca. 1945, oil on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.1146
William H. Johnson, Harriet Tubman, ca. 1945, oil on paperboard, 28 7823 38 in. (73.559.3 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.1146

Artwork Details

Title
Harriet Tubman
Date
ca. 1945
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
28 7823 38 in. (73.559.3 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of the Harmon Foundation
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on paperboard
Classifications
Subjects
  • African American
  • Landscape — time — sunset
  • History — United States — Black History
  • Occupation — other — reformer
  • Portrait female — Tubman, Harriet — full length
Object Number
1967.59.1146

Artwork Description

Johnson traced the likeness of Harriet Tubman (about 1822--1913) from a popular nineteenth-century woodcut reproduced in Carter G. Woodson's book, The Negro in Our Times. Standing tall in a striped Civil War--era dress, she holds a shotgun at her side. Behind her, paths crisscross the landscape into the distance and sketchily drawn railroad tracks suggest the escape routes she used to shepherd enslaved people to freedom. Above her, the North Star shines between the rising and setting suns. At the lower right, Johnson painted Tubman as an elderly woman, her head draped in the shawl given to her by England's Queen Victoria. 

Tubman probably used the Underground Railroad herself when she first escaped slavery in 1849, and she has long been its most famous "conductor." Between 1849 and 1862 she personally led more than eighty people to freedom and helped them find housing and jobs in the North. More than seven hundred others were freed as a result of her work as a spy for the Union army. After the Civil War, she turned her considerable skills to the cause of women's suffrage. 


Works by this artist (1036 items)

William H. Johnson, Young Pastry Cook, ca. 1928-1930, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.693
Young Pastry Cook
Dateca. 1928-1930
oil on canvas
On view
William H. Johnson, Portrait of a Man, ca. 1935-1938, oil on burlap, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.814
Portrait of a Man
Dateca. 1935-1938
oil on burlap
On view
William H. Johnson, Breakdown with Flat Tire, ca. 1940-1941, oil on plywood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.587
Breakdown with Flat Tire
Dateca. 1940-1941
oil on plywood
On view
William H. Johnson, For India and China, ca. 1944-1945, oil on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.662
For India and China
Dateca. 1944-1945
oil on paperboard
On view

Videos

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      Mary Elliott, curator of slavery at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, answers the question, “What can this shawl tell us about Harriet Tubman?” Gifted to Tubman by Queen Victoria in 1897, Elliott reflects on how the shawl symbolizes the many facets of the abolitionist.

      Artist William H. Johnson portrayed Harriet Tubman draped in a shawl similar to the one gifted by Queen Victoria in a double portrait he painted for his Fighters for Freedom series in the mid-1940s. The series celebrates African American activists, scientists, teachers, performers as well as international leaders working to bring peace to the world. This video accompanies SAAM’s exhibition Fighters for Freedom: William H. Johnson Picturing Justice.

      William H. Johnson, Harriet Tubman: americanart.si.edu/artwork/harriet-tubman-12126
      Shawl given to Harriet Tubman by Queen Victoria: https://nmaahc.si.edu/object/nmaahc_2009.50.39
       

      Exhibitions

      Media - 1967.59.1146 - SAAM-1967.59.1146_2 - 141130
      Fighters for Freedom: William H. Johnson Picturing Justice
      March 8, 2024September 10, 2024
      William H. Johnson's Fighters for Freedom series from the mid-1940s is a tribute to African American activists, scientists, teachers, and performers as well as international leaders working to bring peace to the world.