Honestly, you’ve probably seen the "old" Harriet Tubman a thousand times. She’s usually wrapped in a heavy shawl, looking tired, or maybe just incredibly stern—a sort of grandmotherly figure of the Underground Railroad. But that mental image we all carry around is kinda incomplete. It’s based on photographs taken when she was already elderly, well past the days of trekking through swamps with a pistol tucked into her waistband.
For a long time, historians and the public just didn't have a high-quality photo of Harriet Tubman from her prime. That changed in 2017 when a rare find sent shockwaves through the Smithsonian and the Library of Congress.
The Mystery of the Howland Album
Basically, a small leather-bound photo album belonging to a Quaker abolitionist named Emily Howland went up for auction. People expected some cool Civil War-era snapshots, but they didn't expect to find a "new" Harriet. Tucked inside was a carte-de-visite—basically a 19th-century trading card—of a woman sitting in a parlor chair.
She isn't the frail woman from the history books. She’s vibrant.
In this specific photo, taken around 1868 or 1869 by Benjamin Powelson, Tubman is likely in her late 40s. She’s wearing a stylish, full-skirted dress with an elegant bodice. Her expression isn't just "tough"; it’s confident and, frankly, quite fashionable. Lonnie Bunch, the founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, mentioned how this image humanizes her. It moves her away from being a two-dimensional myth and reminds us she was a woman who enjoyed nice things when she could afford them.
🔗 Read more: Finding the Right Word That Starts With AJ for Games and Everyday Writing
Why the "Young" Photo Matters So Much
Most people think of the Underground Railroad as her only gig. But Tubman was a spy. She was a scout for the Union Army. She was the first woman to lead an armed assault during the Civil War—the Combahee River Raid—which liberated over 700 people in one night.
When you look at this earlier photo, you can actually see the "General Tubman" that John Brown talked about. You see the woman who had the physical stamina to navigate the Maryland woods in total darkness.
There's a specific power in her gaze here. In the later photos from the early 1900s, like the one taken by Harvey B. Lindsley, she looks like a survivor who has seen too much. In the 1868 portrait, she looks like someone who is just getting started on her next act. She had just spent years in the war and was settling into her home in Auburn, New York, where she eventually cared for her aging parents and other former slaves.
The Viral Identity Crisis
Social media loves a good story, but it also loves a fake one.
💡 You might also like: Is there actually a legal age to stay home alone? What parents need to know
You might have seen a "photo of Harriet Tubman" circulating on Instagram or X (formerly Twitter) showing a stunningly beautiful woman in an elaborate West African-inspired gown. People share it constantly, claiming it’s a rare shot of a young Harriet.
It isn't her.
That photo actually depicts Sarah Forbes Bonetta, a Yoruba princess who was a goddaughter to Queen Victoria. While both women were incredible, confusing them does a disservice to both their legacies. Tubman’s beauty was more rugged, shaped by a lifetime of labor and a traumatic head injury she suffered as a teenager—a wound that left her with seizures and "sleeping fits" for the rest of her life.
Breaking Down the Visual Legacy
If you really want to understand her through her photos, you have to look at how she used them. Much like Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman understood that a photograph was a tool for social change. She sold these cartes-de-visite to raise money for her various causes, including her home for the aged.
📖 Related: The Long Haired Russian Cat Explained: Why the Siberian is Basically a Living Legend
- The 1868 Powelson Portrait: The "stylish" one. It shows her as a dignified, middle-aged woman in Auburn.
- The 1870s Standing Portrait: She’s leaning on a chair, looking more like the "Moses" of legend.
- The 1911 Gerards Portrait: Taken shortly before her death in 1913. She’s wearing the white lace shawl given to her by Queen Victoria.
These images tell a story of a woman who was constantly reinventing herself. She went from being "Minty" (her birth name was Araminta Ross) to a fugitive, to a conductor, to a soldier, and finally to a suffragist.
Seeing the Real Harriet Today
If you want to see the original 1868 photograph, you’ll have to head to Washington, D.C. It’s jointly owned by the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian. They spent $161,000 at auction to make sure it stayed in the public eye.
Honestly, it's worth the trip. Seeing the physical object—this tiny piece of paper that survived over 150 years—makes the history feel less like a school assignment and more like a real, breathing life.
Actionable Insights for History Buffs
To truly appreciate the visual history of Harriet Tubman, don't just rely on a Google Image search. Do these three things:
- Check the Source: If you see a "young Harriet" photo that looks like a modern fashion shoot, use a reverse image search. It’s almost certainly Sarah Forbes Bonetta or a piece of modern digital art.
- Visit the Digital Collection: The Library of Congress has high-resolution scans of the Emily Howland album online. You can zoom in on the textures of Tubman's dress and the details of her face.
- Read the Context: Look into her life in Auburn, NY, after the war. That’s when most of her "parlor" photos were taken. Understanding her life as a homeowner and community leader in New York gives those photos a whole new meaning.
The next time you see a photo of Harriet Tubman, look past the history book tropes. Look for the woman who was as much a fashion-conscious citizen as she was a revolutionary warrior. The reality is much more interesting than the myth.