06/19/2026
MAG is closed today in honor of Juneteeth🎊
In the spring of 1865, the Civil War finally came to a close. On June 19, 1865 Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas to take control of the state and ensure that all people who were enslaved were finally freed, a full two-and-a-half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.
The arrival of the troops signaled freedom for over 250,000 enslaved people in Texas, and soon there were celebrations among newly freed Black people. The following year, people in Texas organized the first of what would become the annual celebration of “Jubilee Day” on June 19. In the ensuing decades, Jubilee Day became known as Juneteenth and the commemorations featured music, food, prayer services and other activities. As Black people migrated from Texas to other parts of the country the Juneteenth traditions spread.
Before the end of the war and the end of slavery in the US, almost four-million people were held in bo***ge as a captive labor force, driving the economy of the South and the US more broadly. Wherever slavery existed, there were efforts to escape; these efforts became known as The Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad was a network that provided an opportunity for people to resist slavery and work together on liberating Black Americans.
Harriet Tubman is well known for her extraordinary work as an abolitionist and as the Underground Railroad's most famous conductor.
In this portrait sculpture by Alison Saar, you can see the roots that Tubman trails behind her and the faces and objects that are scattered on her skirt. Saar represented Harriet Tubman as a person of great determination and strength, and likened her to an oncoming train because of her reputation as “the Moses of the Underground Railroad.” Even her petticoat resembles a train’s cowcatcher, pushing aside all obstacles in its path. Roots signify Tubman’s efforts to uproot slavery, and the uprootedness of the slaves who had to leave everything behind.
🖼Maquette for "Swing Low"
🕰2007
🖌Alison Saar
