Most people first met Harriet Tubman in a black and white photo in a textbook. We all read a couple paragraphs about how she was a conductor in the Underground Railroad. She saved the lives of people attempting to flee from slavery.

That was it. That was the end of the story we got. But Harriet Tubman was so much more than that. She was a wife and mother, an entrepreneur, a soldier, a spy, a nurse and an activist who fought for women’s right to vote.

“Following Harriet” is a podcast that takes a closer look at the life of Harriet, one of the bravest and most extraordinary women in our country’s history. Through interviews with leading historians, educators and even the director of the upcoming Focus Features film Harriet, it puts the American icon in a broader context and examines the 19th Century experience of African Americans, especially in Virginia.

New episodes start October 22, 2019.

If you’d like to learn more about visiting places that tell the story of Harriet Tubman, The Underground Railroad and the 19th Century African American experience, especially in the state of Virginia, go to https://www.virginia.org/harriet.

This trailer features historians Catherine Clinton, the Denman Chair of American History at the University of Texas in San Antonio and author of Harriet Tubman: Road to Freedom as well as Erica Armstrong Dunbar, the Charles and Mary Beard Professor of History at Rutgers University and author of She Came to Slay: The Life and Times of Harriet Tubman.

“Following Harriet” was produced by INGREDIENT (https://www.ingredientcreative.com/) with Tanner Latham as executive producer and Tanya Ott as the writer and director.

”Following Harriet” is sponsored by the Virginia Tourism Corporation and the Virginia Film Office.

Harriet Tubman was so much more than the short history lesson we heard got her in school. She was a wife and mother, an entrepreneur, a soldier, a spy, a nurse and an activist who fought for women’s right to vote. In this episode, we explore the life of one of the bravest and most extraordinary women in our country’s history through interviews with leading historians and educators.

In this episode we hear from several historians – Erica Armstrong Dunbar from Rutgers University, Catherine Clinton from the University of Texas-San Antonio, Jessica Millward of the University of California Irvine, and Elvatrice Belsches.

If you’d like to learn more about visiting places that tell the story of Harriet Tubman, The Underground Railroad and the 19th Century African American experience, especially in the state of Virginia, go to https://www.virginia.org/harriet.

“Following Harriet” was produced by INGREDIENT (https://www.ingredientcreative.com/) with Tanner Latham as executive producer and Tanya Ott as the writer and director.

”Following Harriet” is sponsored by the Virginia Tourism Corporation and the Virginia Film Office. Special research thanks to the Black History Museum in Richmond and the City of Petersburg, Virginia and the Petersburg Preservation Task Force.

As we learn about Harriet Tubman, we not only peer into the incredible life of one of our country’s most iconic heroes, we also get a better understanding of the broader experience for African Americans in the 19th Century.

In this episode, we travel to museums throughout Virginia and to the presidential homes of Thomas Jefferson (Monticello) and James Madison (Montpelier) to hear how the stories of that African American experience are being told today.

We hear from Eola Dance and Robin Reed from Fort Monroe, historians Ed Ayers of the Backstory history podcast and Elvatrice Belsches, Niya Bates and Gayle Jessup White from Jefferson’s Monticello. Christian Cotz from Madison’s Montpelier and Stephanie Arduini of the American Civil War Museum.

If you’d like to learn more about visiting places that tell the story of Harriet Tubman, The Underground Railroad and the 19th Century African American experience, especially in the state of Virginia, go to https://www.virginia.org/harriet.

“Following Harriet” was produced by INGREDIENT (https://www.ingredientcreative.com/) with Tanner Latham as executive producer and Tanya Ott as the writer and director.

”Following Harriet” is sponsored by the Virginia Tourism Corporation and the Virginia Film Office. Special research thanks to the Black History Museum in Richmond and the City of Petersburg, Virginia and the Petersburg Preservation Task Force.