Harriet Tubman's legendary life is widely known: escaping enslavement, leading others to freedom via the Underground Railroad, and tirelessly fighting for change. But a crucial chapter often overlooked is her daring Civil War service as a spy for the US Army, detailed in Dr. Edda L. Fields-Black's groundbreaking book, COMBEE: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom during the Civil War. A direct descendant of a soldier who fought in the raid, Fields-Black unveils Tubman's command of spies and pilots and intelligence gathered from freedom seekers, which led to a raid that liberated 756 enslaved people from bondage on seven rice plantations. It was the largest slave rebellion in US history. Through unexamined documents, she brings to life the Combahee River Raid and the untold stories of those freed, their resilience, and the lasting impact of Tubman's heroism.
All are invited to the National Arts and Humanities Month Celebration and Luncheon with Dr. Edda L. Fields-Black at the Cleveland History Center. She will provide a "By the Book" Keynote Presentation immediately following lunch. Copies of her book "COMBEE: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom during the Civil War" will be available for signing and purchase.
Tickets to this event include access to the full day of celebration for National Arts and Humanities Month.
10:30am - 12:00pm | Opening Coffee Hour
- Unveiling and dedication of new mural African American Art/History Walk honoring Congressman Louis Stokes.
- Book signing by Louis Stokes daughter and WRHS board member, Lori Stokes
- Book signing by Dr. Edda Fields-Black
12:00pm - 1:00pm | Museum Gallery Visits
Follow this link for full list of current exhibitions.
1:00pm - 1:45pm | National Arts and Humanities Month Luncheon
1:45pm - 3:00pm | "By the Book" Keynote Lecture with Dr. Edda Fields-Black
"COMBEE: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom during the Civil War"
Tickets are $40; WRHS Members and Seniors $35
*These activities are part of the WRHS 2024-2025 "Coffee and Community Conversations about History" and "By the Book" Series. Copies of COMBEE: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom during the Civil War and The Gentleman from Ohio will be available for purchase.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. Edda L. Fields-Black teaches history at Carnegie Mellon University and serves as Director of the Dietrich College Humanities Center. She has written extensively about the history of West African rice farmers, including in such works as Deep Roots: Rice Farmers in West Africa and the African Diaspora. She was a co-editor of Rice: Global Networks and New Histories, which was selected as a Choice Outstanding Academic Title. Fields-Black has served as a consultant for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture's permanent exhibit, "Rice Fields in the Low Country of South Carolina." She is the executive producer and librettist of "Unburied, Unmourned, Unmarked: Requiem for Rice," a widely performed original contemporary classical work by celebrated composer John Wineglass. Fields-Black is a descendent of Africans enslaved on rice plantations in Colleton County, South Carolina; her great-great-great grandfather fought in the Combahee River Raid in June 1863. Her determination to illuminate the riches of the Gullah dialect, and to reclaim Gullah Geechee history and culture, has taken her to the rice fields of South Carolina and Georgia to those of Sierra Leone and Republic of Guinea in West Africa.
