Picturing Freedom: Exhibition and Pulitzer Prize-Winning Book Shed Light on Harriet Tubman’s Greatest Feat, Liberating More than 700 in Combahee River Raid

AARON DOUGLAS (American, 1899-1979, “Harriet Tubman,” 1931 (oil on canvas, 54 x 72 inches). | Bennett College, Greensboro, NC. © 2025 Heirs of Aaron Douglas / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

On the occasion of Juneteenth, a look at a groundbreaking exhibition exploring what is now believed to be largest slave rebellion in U.S. history

AN EXTRAORDINARY FREEDOM FIGHTER, Harriet Tubman (1822-1913) escaped slavery in Maryland in 1849 and over the next decade liberated more than 60 others and advised scores more how to seek freedom via the Underground Railroad. Tubman’s accomplishments in the face of grave danger and lethal violence are the stuff of legend, situating her as an almost mythical figure, rather than a historical one. Artists across generations have been inspired by the strength and conviction of Tubman, making her portrait and depicting her heroic exploits.

“Picturing Freedom: Harriet Tubman and the Combahee River Raid,” a new exhibition at the Gibbes Museum of Art, is exploring an untold aspect of Tubman’s incredible life. In 1863, Tubman conducted a monumental raid in South Carolina, under the auspices of the Union Army, leading more than 700 people out of bondage. The event is now believed to be the largest slave rebellion in U.S. history.

The story of Tubman’s greatest feat comes to life in a book written and researched by Carnegie Mellon University historian Edda Fields-Black. “COMBEE: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom during the Civil War” won the 2025 Pulitzer Prize in History and inspired the exhibition. According to the book’s summary, here is what Tubman managed to pull off:

“[D]uring the Civil War, hired by the Union Army, she ventured into the heart of slave territory—Beaufort, South Carolina—to live, work, and gather intelligence for a daring raid up the Combahee River to attack the major plantations of Rice Country, the breadbasket of the Confederacy.

…Tubman commanded a ring of spies, scouts, and pilots and participated in military expeditions behind Confederate lines. On June 2, 1863, Tubman and her crew piloted two regiments of Black U.S. Army soldiers, the Second South Carolina Volunteers, and their white commanders up coastal South Carolina’s Combahee River in three gunboats. In a matter of hours, they torched eight rice plantations and liberated 730 people, people whose Lowcountry Creole language and culture Tubman could not even understand. Black men who had liberated themselves from bondage on South Carolina’s Sea Island cotton plantations after the Battle of Port Royal in November 1861 enlisted in the Second South Carolina Volunteers and risked their lives in the effort.

In 1863, Tubman conducted a monumental raid in South Carolina, under the auspices of the Union Army, leading more than 700 people out of bondage. The museum describes the slave rebellion as the largest in U.S. history.

Fields-Black is a descendent of one of the many brave people who participated in the raid. In 2022, the author and environmental photographer J Henry Fair, who captured contemporary images of the Combahee River region, approached Gibbes CEO Angela Mack about organizing an exhibition inspired by her research. The museum tapped Vanessa Thaxton-Ward, director of the Hampton University Museum, to guest curate the show.

“Picturing Freedom” visualizes Fields-Black’s groundbreaking book through art and objects and “recreates the full journey of these brave soldiers and freedom seekers on that fateful moonlit night.” Works by an array of well-known and emerging artists are on view, including Aaron Douglas, Elizabeth Catlett, Jacob Lawrence, Faith Ringgold, Stephen Towns, Lori Kiplinger Pandy, James DeLoache, and William H. Johnson, whose work graces the cover of the book. Fair’s photographs and a video re-enactment are also featured.

“There is more to Harriet Tubman than we know and her legacy is shown through this exhibition,” Thaxton-Ward told the local NBC news station. “To find these connections and see the story come alive was really important. I think to do an exhibition with art, the person who is not a history buff, who may not read this fantastic, but pretty large book, they may come to see the exhibition and decide that they want to find out more. Then they will pick up the book.” CT

“Picturing Freedom: Harriet Tubman and the Combahee River Raid” is on view at the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, S.C., from May 23-Oct. 5, 2025

Installation view of “Picturing Freedom: Harriet Tubman and the Combahee River Raid,” Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, S.C. (May 23-Oct. 5, 2025). Shown, FAITH RINGGOLD, “Coming to Jones Road Tanka #1, Harriet Tubman,” 2010 (acrylic on canvas). | Loan Courtesy Estate of Faith Ringgold. Photo by Thomas Photographers, Courtesy Gibbes Museum of Art

STEPHEN TOWNS (American, b. 1980), “And I Shall Smite Thee,” 2018 (natural and synthetic fiber, glass beads, metallic buttons, 46 x 58 inches). | Private Collection

LORI KIPLINGER PANDY, “Fierce – The Triumph of Harriet Tubman,” 2013 (bronze). | © Lori Kiplinger Pandy, Courtesy of Tubman African American Museum, Macon, Ga.

Installation view of “Picturing Freedom: Harriet Tubman and the Combahee River Raid,” Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, S.C. (May 23-Oct. 5, 2025). | Photo by Thomas Photographers, Courtesy Gibbes Museum of Art

J HENRY FAIR (American, b. 1959), “Inlet at Tar Bluff on the Combahee River,” 2022 (photograph). | © J Henry Fair

Installation view of “Picturing Freedom: Harriet Tubman and the Combahee River Raid,” Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, S.C. (May 23-Oct. 5, 2025). | Photo by Thomas Photographers, Courtesy Gibbes Museum of Art

ELIZABETH CATLETT, “In Harriet Tubman I Helped Hundreds to Freedom,” 1946, reprinted in 1989 (linocut, 18/20). | Collection of the Hampton University Museum, Hampton, VA. © 2025 Mora-Catlett Family. Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

JACOB LAWRENCE, “Forward,” 1967 (tempera on masonite panel). | North Carolina Museum of Art. © 2025 The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation, Seattle. Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

Installation view of “Picturing Freedom: Harriet Tubman and the Combahee River Raid,” Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, S.C. (May 23-Oct. 5, 2025). | Photo by Thomas Photographers, Courtesy Gibbes Museum of Art

MAZIE LE COAXU, “Winnowing Basket,” circa 1981 (sweetgrass and pine needle, 2.681 x 14 x 13.5 inches). | McKissick Museum, University of South Carolina

Installation view of “Picturing Freedom: Harriet Tubman and the Combahee River Raid,” Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, S.C. (May 23-Oct. 5, 2025). | Photo by Erin Banks Creative, Courtesy Gibbes Museum of Art

J HENRY FAIR American, b. 1959), “Sunset reflected in the Combahee River, view from St Helena Sound to the north,” 2022 (photograph). | © J Henry Fair

TERRY PLATER (American), “Harriet (née Araminta Ross),” 2021 (oil on canvas, 36 x 36 inches). | Private Collection

Installation view of “Picturing Freedom: Harriet Tubman and the Combahee River Raid,” Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, S.C. (May 23-Oct. 5, 2025). | Photo by Thomas Photographers, Courtesy Gibbes Museum of Art

WILLIAM H. JOHNSON, “Three Freedom Fighters,” circa 1945 (oil on paperboard). | Collection of the Hampton University Museum, Hampton, VA

J HENRY FAIR (American, b. 1959), “Cypress trees in swamp,” 2016 (photograph). | © J Henry Fair

KEVIN PULLEN (American, 1955), “Can you break a Harriet,” 2024 (acrylic on canvas, 60 x 80 inches). | Courtesy the artist

MERTON D. SIMPSON (American, 1928-2013), “Tree Fantasy,” 1951 (oil on Masonite, 21 3/4 x 17 7/8 inches). | Museum purchase from State show. 1951.005.0006. Image Courtesy Gibbes Museum of Art/Carolina Art Association

Installation view of “Picturing Freedom: Harriet Tubman and the Combahee River Raid,” Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, S.C. (May 23-Oct. 5, 2025). | Photo by Thomas Photographers, Courtesy Gibbes Museum of Art

STEPHEN TOWNS (American, b. 1980), “Wade In the Water,” 2020 (natural and synthetic fabric, polyester and cotton thread, crystal glass, 39 x 46 inches). | © Stephen Towns, Courtesy Malik Jackson

J HENRY FAIR (American, b. 1959), “Moon Rise over the Combahee River,” n.d. (photograph). | © J Henry Fair

BOOKSHELF
The “Picturing Freedom” exhibition at the Gibbes Museum of Art was inspired by “COMBEE: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom during the Civil War.” Authored by Carnegie Mellon University historian Edda Fields-Black, the book won the 2025 Pulitzer Prize in History. “Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People” is a critically recognized volume by Tiya Miles from a series edited by Henry Louis Gates Jr. Elizabeth Catlett’s “In Harriet Tubman I Helped Hundreds to Freedom” (1946) is featured on the cover of “Night Flyer” and is also on view in the exhibition. “Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom” by Catherine Clinton is a major biography. For children, also consider, “Aunt Harriet’s Underground Railroad in the Sky” by Faith Ringgold, and “Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom,”