Harper-Tubman House

Harper-Tubman House is a modern residence hall located near the center of campus. It consists of two older buildings that recently have been completely renovated and joined into a single complex.

Tubman House was originally built in 1941. It recognizes Harriet Tubman, who was born and raised on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. In 1849, at age 29, she escaped from slavery to Philadelphia with the help of the Underground Railroad. She returned to the South several times to help family members escape to the North and later extended her efforts to other slaves. A master of disguise, she returned to the south 19 times and helped over 300 slaves escape along the Underground Railroad.

Harper House was constructed in 1951. It is named after Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, who was born in Baltimore in 1825. An antislavery poet and lecturer, who was prominent in the abolitionist movement in the years prior to the Civil War, she also played important roles in the temperance and suffrage movements in the postwar era.

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