The sculpture created by Walter Wofford depicts Tubman with the guiding north star, a light in the sky that escaped slaves would follow to freedom. The 13-foot-tall bronze statue is touring the U.S. and will be on display at the John Brown Farm until Sept. 30. The unveiling kicks off a summer-long celebration of Tubman’s life and legacy.

The event, hosted by John Brown Lives!, was attended by dozens of community members wishing to immerse themselves in a part of history.

Martha Swan, John Brown Lives! founder and executive director, welcomed everyone to the ceremony and thanked them for coming. She expressed her excitement to have the statue of Tubman at the historic site so Tubman and John Brown could reconnect.

She referred to them as “spiritual siblings” and said they highly regarded one another’s work and dedication to freeing slaves.

Swan introduced local student Felicity Contreras to share what she wrote about Tubman for a history day at the farm a few weeks ago.

“We were just blown away by what she wrote,” Swan said.

Contreras took the podium and read a piece she wrote about Tubman’s life and why she admired her so much.

Despite going it alone some of the time, Tubman carried on in her journey not only to free herself and her family but many other slaves as well.

“Harriet decided she would trust God to keep her safe and lead her to freedom,” Contreras said.

Though there was a $100 reward offered to anyone who could catch Harriet, she was never caught. Contreras said she admired this.

By the year 2030, all $20 bills are expected to have Tubman’s face on them.

“I am looking forward to seeing her face on the $20 bill,” Contreras said.

Lesa Cline-Ransome and her husband James Ransome collaborated on the children’s book, “Before she was Harriet,” which uniquely tells Tubman’s story, in reverse. The story details all of the different names Tubman had throughout her life.

Both Lesa and James stood up to share why and how they wrote the story.

“We love creating stories about our heroes,” Lesa said. “Harriet Tubman is the hero we most wanted to write about.”

The issue they found was how to write a new story about someone there are already so many stories about.

“The idea of living a life and seeing all these things develop as you’re growing up, so I thought that might be an interesting way of telling that story in reverse,” James said.

Lesa read the story aloud and announced just some of the names Tubman had throughout her life in reverse order: suffragist, general, spy, nurse, Aunt Harriet, Moses, conductor, Minty and Araminta.

The High Peaks Bell Choir performed several songs at the event to commemorate the abolitionist’s accomplishments.

“Though the song ‘Go Tell it on the Mountain’ is typically thought of as a Christmas song, this arrangement by Andrew Duncan is really interesting,” said the High Peaks Bell Choir director Kathy Briggs.

She said the arrangement creates images of trains in one’s head. This song is perfect to play because of its underlying connection to the Underground Railroad.

After the ceremony moved from the tent to the statue, Shawndel Fraser, working toward her PhD Environmental Psychology at the CUNY Graduate Center, asked everyone why they had attended the event.

She asked what people thought or felt about Brown and Tubman’s lives.

“If we think about John Brown giving up his privilege as a white man, that’s love,” she said.

“Sister Harriet’s determination, that’s love,” she said.

Fraser talked about community also meaning love and thanked the community that came out for the event for showing their love.

Yolanda Bostic Williams, chief diversity officer of State Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, thanked the John Brown Farm Historic State Site for providing a summer home for Tubman.

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand made a surprise visit to the event.

“This is one of my favorite sights in the North Country,” she said.

Gillibrand said when she heard a Tubman statue was coming to the farm, she had to come see it for herself.

“Harriet is certainly a role model and inspiration to me and I think, as our team of speakers said, it had a lot to do with her faith,” she said.

Gillibrand said she admired Tubman’s ability to care more about others than herself.

Contreras cut the ribbon along with the day’s speakers.

Root beer and apple pie were served as an homage to two of Tubman’s favorite things to serve Union soldiers.

While the statue is at the farm, John Brown Lives! will continue to host events throughout the summer to continue educating on Tubman’s legacy.

These events will include a celestial navigation activity, demonstrating how Harriet Tubman used the night sky to guide her many journeys to freedom and her activities as a Union spy and scout during the Civil War. For updates on other special programs and activities, go to johnbrownlives.org. Inquire about summer camp visits and school field trips at info@johnbrownlives.org