A Woman Called Matriarch

(March 10, 1913; Auburn NY)

"I understand being afraid. Death can be a traumatic experience for anyone."

"The four horsemen don't scare me none." The old lady struggles to sit up in bed. "I've faced death too many times to let it trouble me now. But the thought of passing away and leaving nobody behind...that tears up my insides."

"You can't be serious?"

"I am very serious."

"All the things you've done.  The examples you've set.  The people you've inspired."

"And I would swap it all to be a momma -- to have a child!" She interrupts him.

"But you have family right here in Auburn," The man reminds her. "In this very house are people who love you desperately!"

"It ain't the same." The old lady turns her back to the visitor.

"Yes it is."

"No, it ain't! The Lord said go forth and multiply!"

"The Lord?" The man in the black Victorian suit raises an eyebrow. "Scripture can be interpreted in different ways."

"For you maybe, but not for me."

"And why not?"

"Because I'm a woman!" She turns to look him in the eye again. "It's what the good Lord put me on this earth to do -- to multiply --  to have children. And I ain't got any! I feel like I wasted my whole life and I have! A woman ain't much without a legacy."

The guest is taken aback by her response. He knew she would be nearing death when he materialized on her doorstep. But he never imagined her spirits would be so low. Nor did he anticipate his personal hero harboring such antiquated beliefs. But as a time traveler, culture clashes and disillusionment often comes with the territory. It is folly to expect modern sensibilities from a woman born in slavery; even for one as magnificent as Harriet Tubman.

Harriet had been born a slave in the early 19th century. But she transcended her humble beginnings to escape and become one of the greatest abolitionists of all time. History dubs her the woman called Moses and for good reason. She led over 300 slaves to freedom by way of the Underground Railroad. Long after emancipation, in fact, Harriet continues to fight for human rights and egalitarianism at every turn. In the pantheon of black freedom fighters, she is blueblood royalty. All the more reason for her guest to be devastated by the emotional condition he finds her in. He traveled backwards in time searching for a goddess and discovers a wounded little girl instead.

"Miss Harriet," the traveler chokes up.  "I disagree."

"Thank you baby, for trying to spare my feelings," She wipes a tear from her eye. "But I know my Bible."

"Your Bible?" That's when it hit him. If Harriet knew her Bible, her visitor surmises, it could only be via secondhand. As a time traveler, he knows for a fact that Harriet Tubman remains illiterate her entire life. She couldn't possibly know her bible, then, without someone else revealing it to her. Someone else the man is now intending on exposing as being either ignorant or a fraud.

"Miss Harriet," the man approaches the topic gingerly. "Who taught you about the Bible?"

"Plenty of folks."

"John Tubman?" He leaps to a conclusion.

"My first husband could both read and write. He taught me a lot."

"Yeah, I bet he did."

"Now, don't you go bad-mouthing John," Harriet says.  "He was a good man."