13-foot Harriet Tubman statue travels on N.J. ferry in Underground Railroad-inspired tour

Written by Nyah Marshall for NJ.com

After a two-month sojourn at the Cape May Point Science Center, the “Beacon of Hope” Harriet Tubman statue bid farewell to New Jersey Thursday, as it set sail on the Cape May–Lewes Ferry to continue its freedom tour.

Passengers on the ferry watched in awe as the 13-foot, 2,400-pound bronze statue was carefully loaded onto the boat by a pick-up truck and a team of escorts.

Once the ferry docked in Delaware Thursday morning, the Beacon of Hope was driven about an hour to its next destination, Salisbury, Maryland, where it will be on display for another two months.

“We’re honored to transport the ‘Beacon of Hope,’” Heath Gehrke, director of ferry operations, said in a statement. “Our ferry route is very similar to one used by escaped enslaved people who would wait for moonless nights to row across the Delaware Bay using the Lighthouse for guidance.”

Following its time in Maryland, the sculpture will journey back to New Jersey — but this time to Rahway — and then continue its tour to Ohio and New York, all in tribute of the Underground Railroad and the trips Harriet Tubman made to guide enslaved people to freedom.

“When you look at the (statue) and you see this beacon of hope... it symbolizes the hope and dreams of escaped enslaved people to go across the bay, land in the free state with the Cape May Point Lighthouse...being the guiding light,” said Bob Mullock, president of the Cape May Point Science Center.

In September, the Tubman statue arrived at the Cape May Point Science Center, where it was put on display for two months. The southern New Jersey shore town holds the distinction of being the first to host the Beacon.

When K’von Kinard, a professional-truck driver from Maryland, picked up the statue from a forging company in Texas earlier this year for its cross-country journey to Cape May, it was still warm.

“This is Harriet’s chariot,” Kinard said as he prepared to load the sculpture onto his flatbed, just a day before it was scheduled to board the Lewes Ferry. He’s the driver responsible for transporting the statue throughout its tour.

Kvon Kinard, a driver from Maryland, prepares the “Beacon of Hope” Harriet Tubman Statue for its journey to Delaware after being displayed at the Cape May Point Science Center in Cape May Point on Thursday, November 9, 2023.Jim Lowney | For NJ Advance Media

Before saying a “bittersweet” goodbye to the statue, Mullock and other founding trustees of Cape May’s Harriet Tubman Museumgathered around the sculpture, as it waited to board at the ferry port. They joined hands and reflected on the abolitionist’s history, particularly in New Jersey.

After escaping slavery, Tubman conducted around 13 missions to guide enslaved people to freedom utilizing the Underground Railroad network. In the early, 1850s she worked at hotels and clubs in Cape May to help earn money to fund her missions, local historians said.

The Cape May Point Science Center was transformed into an environmental research hub and museum earlier this year, but before that, it served as a seaside retreat for Catholic nuns. And prior to that, William Still, known as the father of the Underground Railroad, purchased the property in 1893 and it became a home for aged and infirm Black people.

The centuries-old site was also a landing point for escaped enslaved Africans, who would use the Cape May Lighthouse, located only a few hundred feet away from the center, as a guide to free land.

When the Tubman statue was at the science center, it was intentionally positioned outside with the lighthouse in the background, accentuating the symbolism of Tubman’s beacon, said Mullock, the center’s director.

“People can look at this (statue) and Harriet Tubman, today, can be a leader in bringing people together,” he said.

Emily Dempsey, a sixth-generation Cape May resident, was present at the ferry terminal on Thursday to see the statue off. She’ll be turning 87 in a few weeks, holds a deep knowledge of African American history in Cape May and has contributed artifacts to the local Harriet Tubman Museum.

“This is a great extension to my history and since ‘93, ‘94 I’m just starting to learn about my family life here,” Dempsey said reflecting on the significance of the Tubman statue in Cape May.

Tubman’s fourth-generation great-nieces, Tonet Cuffee and Ja’Nay Ross-Freeman, traveled from North Carolina and arrived at the terminal just in time to accompany the statue to Maryland.

Like many of the Tubman sculptures created around the nation, the Beacon of Hope sculpted by Wesley Wofford was based on the likeness of one of their family members, Ross-Freeman said.

“That’s pretty much my grandmother’s face,” she said. “They usually do all the statues resembling one of us...every one of us got the same cheekbones...and eyes.”

Shawna Kearsley, who will be helping to direct the Beacon of Hope’s exhibit in Maryland, also accompanied the statue on the ferry.

“This is the most profound experience I’ve ever been part of,” Kearsley said in a live video as the ferry approached the port in Delaware with the statue at its front. “Our entire community, all our people on the dock, law enforcement coming out, and everybody is talking about the fact that we just want to move forward. This is incredible.”

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