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closeRemembering an African-American Hero
Local children create quilt in honor of Black History Month, Harriet Tubman
Joan Cronk / for The Herald
Fifth and sixth graders at Karshner Elementary School are pumped. Their teacher, Janine DeLeon, read them a book about Harriet Tubman, an African-American woman who was born in 1820 and helped more than 300 slaves reach freedom through the Underground Railroad.
Tubman, who was born a slave in Maryland, was one of the Underground Railroad’s “conductors.” She made many trips into the South and was known to have said, “I never lost a single passenger.”
The book that DeLeon read was the story of Minty, Tubman’s childhood name. It recounts her amazing bravery and explains how she gave her only prized possession, a quilt, to the Quakers who helped her escape from slavery.
As she read to the class, DeLeon decided that as part of Black History Month her class would make a paper quilt in honor of Tubman’s heroism.
The finished product is now proudly displayed in the entryway of the school. The quilt features brightly colored pictures that the students drew depicting African art. They also wrote a time line about Tubman’s life and in so doing, learned a lot about slavery, in addition to courage and sacrifice.
The quilt took a lot of time, but the students enjoyed it.
One student recounted during class how Tubman was referred to as the “Moses of the people” and was also a spy for the North. She described how Tubman’s uncle had taught her to sneak through the woods without making a sound. She followed the North Star and when she couldn’t see it, she remembered how moss grew on the north side of trees and used that as her guide.
The kids in DeLeon’s class hoped they would have been fearless enough to do what Tubman did.
Another student couldn’t wait to explain how Tubman, who could not read or write, fooled some folks searching for her so they could cash in on the reward. She overheard them say they knew Tubman couldn’t read or write and so she snatched up a book and pretended to read it on the spot.
Tubman was smart as well as brave and DeLeon’s class was clearly affected by what they had learned about her. Their quilt displays Tubman in the center, wearing a scarf, “to cover the scar on her forehead,” they said. She was hit in the head with a weight as a young woman and bore the scar the rest of her life.
Tubman died at 93 of pneumonia, after living a long life of sacrifice and dedication.
Karshner will be presenting an assembly recounting Tubman’s life and showcasing the quilt today, Feb. 21, at the school.
Despite all of Tubman’s hard work, change wasn’t immediate. First came the abolition of slavery and almost a century later, the Civil Rights movement.
Puyallup Mayor Don Malloy found himself right in the middle of the action, an experience he learned from and will carry with him throughout his life.
He had served in the Air Force and always wanted to be an ROTC instructor, so applied for jobs in his chosen field. One day he received a call from ROTC headquarters saying they had a spot for him at a university in Greensboro, N.C. The school was The Agricultural and Technical College of North Carolina where the students and staff were predominately African American.
Malloy was living in California at the time, so he and his wife, Ivonette, piled their children and belongings into their car and headed to North Carolina. They had no idea what to expect when they got there.
Upon arrival he and Ivonette were invited to a dinner for faculty and staff.
“We were met at the door by some female students and I can still tell you what they were wearing,” he said, obviously affected by the experience.
Malloy and his wife were seated at a table and sat alone as others arrived. Not one single person joined them.
“I felt what a black person feels like in a white environment,” he said.
He and his wife were the only Caucasians at the event.
All of a sudden, folks began to join their table and welcoming them. Malloy never forgot the experience. Years later as a vice principal at Ferrucci Junior High, he remembered what it felt like to be isolated and always watched out for the new students, taking them under his wing and helping them to fit in.
Malloy arrived in North Carolina the year after Jesse Jackson made history as he staged a sit-in with other black students at an all-white lunch counter in Greensboro. All were students at The Agricultural and Technical College.
This was a time of unrest in the South and there was change in the air. Martin Luther King Jr. was on the road, preaching and energizing and folks everywhere were getting involved.
While he was attending college in Greensboro, Jackson organized student protests and sit-ins that sparked the Civil Rights movement, resulting in the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Malloy said he went to Greensboro to learn something about a different culture, “but instead I learned something about myself. I became much more aware of how people felt and that extended to my work as a principal.”
Malloy is now serving a two-year term as Puyallup’s mayor.