Reason #1001: Social studies is a collection of life’s greatest untold stories.

Elementary Social Studies and Famous American Heroes

When I was in elementary school, my teachers exposed me to the stories of many famous Americans, people like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Frederick Douglass. These Americans stood out, made a difference. Learning about them made me want to be a difference maker too. 

One courageous individual who captured my attention was Harriet Tubman. Her story amazed me then. Still does. But it turns out there was more to her story than was shared. I think that one of the best parts of her story is seldom told. And that’s one reason why social studies matters so much. Untold stories are some of the best stories. 

Harriet Tubman: A Conductor on the Underground Railroad

This is the story I remember about Harriet from elementary school. And it is certainly compelling. Maybe you've heard it too. 

She had no school, no books, no time to be a child. At three, she watched her sisters get sold away like bales of cotton. She cried. Most everyone did. At five, she was sent to care for a baby. When the baby cried, she was whipped. Once five times before breakfast.

At twelve, she saw a man running, trying to escape. She stepped in the way. A weight thrown by her owner, struck her in the head, knocking her down, nearly killing her. For the rest of her life, she would suffer headaches and she would faint, sometimes at the worst moments.

Despite her disability, she bravely ran away from her so-called owner. She reached the North where she was free if not equal. But her own freedom wasn’t enough. How could it be when so many were still enslaved? She went back, again and again. Eleven times she risked arrest and execution. She led at least seventy-five people to freedom. 

She traveled in disguise or by night, living in constant danger. She may have had moments of great fear, but she did not give into it. She was an American hero. 

And that was the end. That was all my teacher told me about Harriet. She was Harriet Tubman, a brave Conductor on the Underground Railroad, which is awesome. 

Put that on a flash card and memorize it for Friday’s quiz. 

A Mostly Unknown Story About Harriet the Spy and Soldier

There is another story I learned about Harriet only recently. Not for a quiz, but just because. I thank social studies for this story. Because it makes Harriet’s work on the Underground Railroad even more amazing. 

In 1861, the Civil War began, and Harriet did what she had always done. She fought for others’ freedom. She started as a nurse. She fed the sick, cared for the wounded. But the Union Army saw what she was capable of. She could move unnoticed. She could listen. She could lead.

She became a spy. She commanded ten men, scouts who went behind enemy lines, gathering what they could—information, maps, the knowledge that wins wars.

In 1863, she led a raid, the first woman in American history to do so. She guided 150 Black soldiers down the Combahee River, leading their boats past the mines hidden beneath the water. They destroyed bridges, railroads, Confederate supplies and plantations. And they freed 700 enslaved men, women and children, nearly five times more than she had freed on the Underground Railroad.

The raid had a huge secondary effect. It helped convince President Lincoln that Black men should fight in the war, not just for the Union, but for themselves. By the time the war ended, 200,000 African Americans had fought. By the time the war ended, slavery was no more.

Harriet Tubman had lived to see it. And she had helped make it so.

Social Studies Matters!

Most people know the story about Harriet the Conductor on the Underground Railroad. I’m glad. It's an amazing story. But how many know about Harriet the spy? Harriet the soldier? 

Today, there is a bridge on Highway 17 not far from Beaufort, South Carolina that crosses the Combahee River. It's the Harriet Tubman bridge. It marks the place where she led the raid in 1863. And, if you continue into Beaufort, you can see a statue of Harriet in town designed by Ed Dwight, African American NASA astronaut and sculptor. In it, she’s depicted at the head of a group of African American soldiers–Harriet Tubman, leader of men. 

Social studies tells the stories we think we know, but it also uncovers the ones we don’t. The ones buried in overlooked corners of history. These are the stories that change how we see the past, how we understand others and ourselves. And that is Reason #241 why social studies matters!