In June 1863, Harriet Tubman ventured into the heart of slave territory in South Carolina to carry out one of the most daring and extraordinary missions of the Civil War.

Join us at the Watkins for a special author event. In her new book Combee: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom during the Civil War, Dr. Edda L. Fields-Black—a descendent of one of the raid’s participants—shows how Tubman commanded a ring of spies, scouts, and boat pilots and played a central role in military expeditions behind Confederate lines, including the raid on June 2, 1863, which liberated 756 people. It was the largest slave rebellion in US history.

This event will be held in-person and also livestreamed on the Watkins Museum Facebook and YouTube.

About Edda L. Fields-Black

Dr. Edda L. Fields-Black is a descendent of Africans enslaved on rice plantations in Colleton County, South Carolina; her great-great-great grandfather fought in the Combahee River Raid in June 1863. Her determination to illuminate the riches of the Gullah dialect, and to reclaim Gullah Geechee history and culture, has taken her to the rice fields of South Carolina and Georgia and to those of Sierra Leone and Republic of Guinea in West Africa.