ABSTRACT
Harriet Tubman (1821?–1913) is intensely admired in our era for her anti-slavery work and her daring. Her legend is inspirational for many women searching for models for both antiracist and prowoman activism. Less well known is the religious basis for her activism. She was engaged in what can be viewed as an informal, God-guided ministry, which had both activist and spiritual components. Hers is a spiritual life and ministry many of us would like to know better, but as we attempt to explore it, we are faced with the problem of a “mediated” autobiographical text—Sarah Bradford’s Harriet, the Moses of Her People (1886), a narrative based on Tubman’s own oral testimony as written down by a white woman.
