Harriet Tubman – A Living History Presentation

Harriet Tubman

Born Araminta Ross, Harriet Tubman lived as a slave on a Maryland plantation. Frequently
threatened, beaten, whipped, and starved, Ms. Tubman’s indomitable spirit could not be broken.
Suffering from a head wound incurred when a furious overseer aimed a two-pound weight at
another slave, but missed, Harriet Tubman suffered from seizures for the rest of her life. But
even this daunting physical obstacle could not keep her from her freeing herself and freeing
others from slavery. A Union spy during the Civil War as well as a nurse, Ms. Tubman directed
her consider energies towards humanitarian causes that included women’s suffrage after the war.

Dr. Daisy Century considers Harriet Tubman her role model, someone who encouraged her
to put others first and to lead by example. Like her inspiration, Daisy grew up on a farm, has a
wonderful singing voice and is a determined woman of conviction: once they start a project, they
must see it through to completion. Harriet Tubman reveals a woman who made up her mind as a
young girl that things could be better than they were, “I had reasoned this out in my mind. There
was one of two things I had a right to – liberty or death. If I could not have one, I would have the
other.” Tubman shows us a woman who found freedom for herself and then made sure others
were brought to freedom. The brave woman who rescued more than seventy slaves using the
Underground Railroad declared, “I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger.”
Harriet Tubman takes each and every audience member along for this ride.

ABOUT THE ACTOR

Dr. Daisy Century recalls the thrill of receiving a standing ovation for her 3rd grade recitation of
The Creation and credits this as the beginning of her desire to perform. Trained as a teacher, Dr.
Century earned a BA in Biology at Claflin College, a Master’s in Science Education from South
Carolina University and a PhD from Temple University, also in Science Education. This
naturally talented teacher and actor couples scientific methods with creative imagination in order
to discover how the historical characters she interprets would respond to a given situation. An
inspiring educator whose students have returned year after year to thank Dr. Century for the
difference she has made in their lives, Daisy has continued to inspire through her thoroughly-
researched, dramatically intense portrayals. Dr. Century is a published author, writing under the
name Emily Nelson, and is an accomplished singer.

Dr. Century contacted the American Historical Theatre and auditioned for AHT founders Pamela
and William Sommerfield in 1999. Since then, Daisy has appeared in venues that include the
National Defense Organization, Belmont Mansion, National Archives, Sojourner Truth House,
Theodore Roosevelt National Historic Site, the Helicopter Museum, and numerous schools,
libraries, museums and historic sites throughout New Jersey.