Nine Black cyclists follow Harriet Tubman’s trail to Albany
— From Harriet Tubman Byway
Bicyclists have been raising funds for a sculpture honoring Harriet Tubman on the Dorchester Courthouse lawn in Cambridge, Maryland where Tubman, activist and abolitionist, was born. Now, nine Black cyclists will pedal from Cambridge through Albany on their way to Owen Sound in Ontario, stopping at historical sites along the Underground Railroad route.
ALBANY — The restored 19th-Century home of Black abolitionists Stephen and Harriet Myers will be a stopping point for nine Black bicyclists who are following Harriet Tubman’s trail from Maryland to Ontario, Canada.
The cyclists start their journey, tracing an Underground Railroad route, on July 23 in Cambridge, Maryland, where Tubman was born, and are expected at Livingston Avenue in Albany on July 27 at about 1 p.m.
“We have arrivals every few days from southern oppression, and forward them to the next depot,” wrote Stephen Myers in 1860.
The Myers Residence, operated by the Underground Railroad Education Center, “researches and preserves the local and national history of the Underground Railroad movement, its international connections, and its legacy to today’s social justice issues, empowering people of all ages to be agents of change toward an equitable and just society …,” according to a release from the center.
“Our hearts brim with excitement, adoration, and are completely thrilled as we retrace the awe-inspiring footsteps of Harriet Tubman, immersing ourselves in her extraordinary journey towards freedom,” said Alex Williams, one of the nine cyclists, in the release.
“Through our own pilgrimage, we aim to inspire and raise awareness of Harriet Tubman’s profound enduring legacy and emphasize the timeless significant quest of freedom for all humankind.”
The experienced cyclists — Bobby Dean, Edward Dunn, AJ Haney, John Johnson, Jerry MaCauley, Augusto Macedo, Howard Tyndle, Ray Wall, and Alex Williams — call themselves the UGRR Nine.
The UGRR Nine will pedal through Dover, Middletown, and Newark in Delaware; Kenneth Square, Philadelphia, and Camden in Pennsylvania; Trenton, Princeton, and Newark in New Jersey; and New York City, including Harlem, Poughkeepsie, Albany, Schenectady, Auburn, Seneca Falls, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, and Niagara Falls in New York state before ending in Owen Sound in Ontario, the last “terminal” of the railroad where many freedom seekers settled.
— Melissa Hale-Spencer
