Harriet's Children

Oh, her, Harriet Tubman. I was born in the shadow of slavery, but I walked in the light of liberty, and I heard voices calling me. And when they called, rockets burst in my head, and the earth moved under me.

And as the voices of my four-barrows guided me, my voice helped guide my heirs toward their destination of freedom. Destination Freedom dramatization of the great democratic traditions of the Negro people is brought to you by Station WMAQ as a part of the pageant of history and of America's own destination freedom.

One year ago, Destination Freedom made its first broadcast to NBC listeners. Since that time, the growth of its audience and the commendation as well as the special recognition given its by critics and listeners alike have made us justly proud of the record and quality of our year-old's features.

Today, in celebration of our first anniversary, we bring you a special dramatization of excerpts from some of Destination Freedom's best plays of the year in a chapter entitled, Harriet's Children. Oh, her! Yes, I'm Harriet Tubman.

I ran an underground railway in the days of slavery. I was the first conductor of the Freedom Trains, and my cargo was human documents of independence. They say I freed more men from their chains than any American woman.

If I did, it was because of the voices. I heard the voice of Chris Bessatox as it came down to me from the year 1760 when he escaped his bondage. As I was to escape mine.

I am Chris Bessatox. I escaped from slavery. I walked, I ran, I crawled through swamps to freedom. Made my way to the docks of Boston. And when I bought a whaling ship and asked the skipper for a job.