Harriet’s Legacy Today: Strength, Courage & Triumph

In this episode, we pull Harriet’s story and the story of the African American experience in 19th Century America right through to the present. We talk about why a movie like Harriet is so important to us as Americans at this time.

In this episode we heard from historians Ed Ayers, Elvatrice Belschese, Jessica Millward (Finding Charity’s Folk), Catherine Clinton (Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom) and Erica Armstrong Dunbar (She Came to Slay: The Life and Times of Harriet Tubman). We also heard from Niya Bates and Gayle Jessup White from Jefferson’s Monticello, Christian Cotz from Madison’s Montpelier, Stephanie Arduini of the American Civil War Museum, Kasi Lemmons, director of the new Focus Features biopic called Harriet, and Malcolm “Jamie” Jamieson, who owns the Berkeley Plantation where parts of the film were shot. 

If you’d like to learn more about visiting places that tell the story of Harriet Tubman, The Underground Railroad and the 19th Century African American experience, especially in the state of Virginia, go to https://www.virginia.org/harriet.

“Following Harriet” was produced by INGREDIENT (https://www.ingredientcreative.com/) with Tanner Latham as executive producer and Tanya Ott as the writer and director.

”Following Harriet” is sponsored by the Virginia Tourism Corporation and the Virginia Film Office. Special research thanks to the Black History Museum in Richmond and the City of Petersburg, Virginia and the Petersburg Preservation Task Force.