A recently found photograph of escaped slave, abolitionist and Union spy Harriet Tubman that was acquired by the Smithsonian, is displayed before a hearing of the House Administration Committee in the Longworth House Office Building on June 17, 2015 in Washington, D.C. Auburn, New York, photographer H. Seymour Squyer made the photograph around 1885. (Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images)
Harriet Tubman did so much for others -- she escaped slavery and went on to become a leading abolitionist, leading enslaved people to freedom along the route of the Underground Railroad.
There’s even a day for her in March, to honor the activist and all of her efforts.
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We thought we’d look through the archives of Getty Images to see what kind of photos we could find showing Tubman and the history surrounding her name and achievements. Here are 31 of them, below.
Thank you, Harriet Tubman.
Harriet Tubman, far left, holding a pan, is photographed with a group of slaves whose escape she assisted. (Getty Images)A drawing of Harriet Tubman (Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images)A view of the former residence of Harriet Tubman -- a white wooden house on Green Brier Road in Bucktown, Maryland, from 1940. (Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images)In this photo, circa 1865, Harriet Tubman is shown. Tubman escaped from slavery in 1849 and became a member of the Underground Railroad, leading more than 300 slaves to freedom. During the Civil War she served as a nurse, laundress and spy with the Union forces. (Getty Images)A large crowd of people gathered on the steps in front of the Cayuga County Court House, where a memorial plaque in honor of Harriet Tubman can be found, in Auburn, New York, 1940. (Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images)In this photo, circa 1890, we see American abolitionist leader and former slave Harriet Tubman, who led more than 300 escaped slaves to freedom, including her parents, through the underground railroad. (Getty Images)The ruins of a slave cabin still remained on a former plantation's land along the banks of the Combahee River in 2012 in rural Beaufort County, South Carolina. During the summer of 1863, fugitive slave, abolitionist and daring Underground Railroad conductor Harriet Tubman returned to the South in the midst of the Civil War. In her boldest raid, she led black Union troops 25 miles up the swampy Combahee River, freeing more than 700 slaves from the surrounding rice plantations, including this one. After the Civil War, Black families working the rice fields continued to live in this cabin until the 1970s. (Corbis via Getty Images)Then-President Barack Obama, at right, greets a young student after signing the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 at Harriet Tubman Elementary School on Dec. 13, 2010 in Washington, D.C. In an effort to provide children with better school lunches and breakfasts, the law puts $4.5 million in the hands of child nutrition programs, sets nutrition standards on school vending machines, helps create school gardens and makes sure that quality drinking water is available during meal times. (Getty Images)A head and shoulders portrait of Harriet Tubman from 1870. (Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images)Harriet Tubman's image is projected on the Robert E. Lee Monument as people gather around on June 18, 2020 in Richmond, Virginia. (Getty Images)A seated portrait of American former slave and civil rights activist Harriet Tubman from the 1900s. (Seidman Photo Service/Kean Collection/Getty Images)A group of people holding a tapestry with a portrait of Harriet Tubman, born Araminta Harriet Ross, from 1950. (Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images)A few crumbling former slave cabins still remained along the banks of the Combahee River in rural Beaufort County, South Carolina (as of 2012 or so). Once the heart of the south's large rice plantations, the area was raided by a Union gun boat in July of 1863 that also brought Harriet Tubman up the river, who helped free more than 700 slaves from this plantation. African-American families continued to live on the property until the 1970s. (Corbis via Getty Images)A portrait of Harriet Tubman, who, even as an escaped slave herself, helped hundreds of slaves leave the South by means of the Underground Railroad. She nursed Union troops during the Civil War and took on spying missions at great personal risk. She is known as the "Moses of Her People." (Corbis via Getty Images)Mrs. E.S. Northup, a grand niece of Harriet Tubman, christening the Liberty Ship SS Harriet Tubman in South Portland, Maine, June 3, 1944. (Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images)The Harriet Tubman residence in Auburn, New York, where Harriet Tubman, the American abolitionist, lived from 1859 to 1886. The house was partially destroyed by fire, but rebuilt with brick. (Getty Images)A visitor to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is silhouetted against a Harriet Tubman quote on Aug. 20, 2004 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Getty Images)A photograph of the Harriet Tubman Home, a white wooden house with a run-around porch in Auburn, New York, 1940. (Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images)A shot of the bow of the Liberty Ship SS Harriet Tubman lying in the dry dock, South Portland, Maine, 1944. (Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images)A photograph of Tubman House, a women's dormitory named after Harriet Tubman, at Morgan State College, in Baltimore on Nov. 15, 1941. (Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images)A view of the Harriet Tubman Memorial in Harlem during the coronavirus pandemic on April 23, 2020 in New York City. (Getty Images)A few crumbling former slave cabins still remained along the banks of the Combahee River in rural Beaufort County, South Carolina (as of 2012 or so). Once the heart of the south's large rice plantations, the area was raided by a Union gun boat in July of 1863 that also brought Harriet Tubman up the river, who helped free more than 700 slaves from this plantation. African-American families continued to live on the property until the 1970s. (Corbis via Getty Images)A few crumbling former slave cabins still remained along the banks of the Combahee River in rural Beaufort County, South Carolina (as of 2012 or so). Once the heart of the south's large rice plantations, the area was raided by a Union gun boat in July of 1863 that also brought Harriet Tubman up the river, who helped free more than 700 slaves from this plantation. African-American families continued to live on the property until the 1970s. (Corbis via Getty Images)A full-length portrait of, from left to right, Miss Hilda Proctor of Yonkers, New York, Mrs. Mary Cornish of Chester, Pennsylvania, Mrs. E.S. Northup, grand niece of Harriet Tubman, of Philadelphia and Mrs. Marylin of Philadelphia, at a launching ceremony in South Portland, Maine, June 3, 1944. (Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images)A recently found photograph of escaped slave, abolitionist and Union spy Harriet Tubman that was acquired by the Smithsonian, is displayed before a hearing of the House Administration Committee in the Longworth House Office Building on June 17, 2015 in Washington, D.C. Auburn, New York, photographer H. Seymour Squyer made the photograph around 1885. (Getty Images)A sign marking the historic spot where American abolitionist and humanitarian Harriet Tubman lived, served and frequented in Auburn, New York. The site contains Tubman's former home and the home she set up to care for the needy. (Epics/Getty Images)A portrait of Harriet Tubman in 1868. (Library of Congress/Getty Images)The headstone and flowers at the grave of American abolitionist and humanitarian Harriet Tubman at the Fort Hill cemetery in Auburn, New York. (Epics/Getty Images)A full-length portrait of activist Harriet Tubman in a shawl with her hands crossed, 1885. (Getty Images/Library of Congress.)Aisha Hinds, who portrays Harriet Tubman in "The Underground" arrives at the National Museum of African American History & Culture on Sept. 26, 2016 in Washington, D.C. (WireImage/Getty Images)U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, leads a rally with fellow House Democrats, including Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wisconsin, at left, and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland, center, to demand that American abolitionist heroine Harriet Tubman's image be put on the $20 bill. The event was held outside the U.S. Treasury Department, June 27, 2019 in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images)
This story was first published in 2021. It has since been updated.
