Tom Swift Writer’s Notebook

When I was introduced to Harriet Tubman in grade school the Underground Railroad almost sounded like a good time. All that sneaking around and hush-hush meetings with “friends” in the middle of night seemed akin to an adult version of kick-the-can — at least to my woefully insensitive ears. That reference point stuck in part because nothing ever replaced it. Tubman’s life is sadly underwritten; she plays a prominent role in dozens of children’s books like the one I read but only a bit part in those without drawings.

It’s hard to believe it took until 2004 for a serious biographer to tackle Tubman’s story. But, after I finished Catherine Clinton’s fine effort this weekend, I have an inkling why: there just isn’t a lot of material to work with. The lives of African-American women were not exactly well documented in the nineteenth century and the nature of Tubman’s work was, by definition, secret. This reality presented Clinton, who has multiple Ivy League degrees, with an unenviable task — and left gaps this ungrateful reader wanted filled in. The author apparently shared this frustration, as at times Clinton reaches for something that isn’t there. At other points, she offers extraneous material.

But, given the handicaps, I forgive the instances when the writing didn’t blow me away. More important is what someone with Clinton’s research chops did provide: a substantive portrait of Harriet Tubman’s fearless, important and noble life. In addition to its many merits, the book provided a much-needed revised reference point for my now slightly more educated mind.

This post was added on Sunday, June 22, 2008 by Tom Swift at 13:46 and is filed under Reading Material.