After seeing a photo of the stone statue of Harriet Tubman unveiled two weeks ago in Ghana, in western Africa, where her grandparents were said to have come from, even though she never even set foot on the continent, this community should be ashamed of itself. As the location that Harriet Tubman decided to spend her later life in, and a community that continually touts her, such a tribute should have been completed decades ago.
One of the first calls for a statue for Harriet Tubman came in the late Sen. George Metcalf's regular column on this page. A civil rights activist of note, he called on the community to raise the funds needed to commemorate her life and legacy.
If the old adage that things come in threes is true, it is only fitting that a statue be cast to join the likes of William Seward, Harriet Tubman's benefactor, and Thomas Mott Osborne, a former mayor and well known prison reformer. Plans were discussed to put a statue at Freedom Park, across from the Auburn police station. It could go there, where her home was on South Street or at several other fitting local locations.
Communities across the nation have laid claim to her memory. Some, like New York City, have had the will to name a major street after her. Others have named schools, something this community failed to do.
More than a decade ago, the city started the process of looking at the costs of casting a statue. The city's then capital improvement program director, Michael Long, was asked by this writer to look into the matter. In the daily slog of other projects (Falcon Park, the landfill's construction and sewer upgrades) the project was not followed up on, to my regret. Too many other major projects with high price tags were on the table and this was not a financial priority at the time. That does not mean that it shouldn't have been done.
For some inane reason, beyond comprehension, the whole idea of doing more to commemorate her works and memory generates a negative response locally. Some have suggested it is racism, others cheapness. Whatever it is, it is a failure. A failure to understand her life, its meaning and the terrible cost of freedom.
This community has done the right thing when it comes to commemorating the efforts of others, such as Holland Stadium, Lattimore Hall and Pinckney Field. It still needs to do the right thing when it comes to Harriet Tubman.
It is one thing to suggest, but if the city will take on the challenge, I promise to raise $1,000 of the cost or pay the money myself. Why $1,000? That was the bounty in 1850, under the Fugitive Slave Act, of not sending an escaped slave, like Harriet Tubman, back to the South. Who else is willing to pony up?
Cosentino is a former mayor of Auburn and can be e-mailed at cozguytho@aol.com
If the old adage that things come in threes is true, it is only fitting that a statue be cast to join the likes of William Seward, Harriet Tubman's benefactor, and Thomas Mott Osborne, a former mayor and well known prison reformer. Plans were discussed to put a statue at Freedom Park, across from the Auburn police station. It could go there, where her home was on South Street or at several other fitting local locations.
Communities across the nation have laid claim to her memory. Some, like New York City, have had the will to name a major street after her. Others have named schools, something this community failed to do.
More than a decade ago, the city started the process of looking at the costs of casting a statue. The city's then capital improvement program director, Michael Long, was asked by this writer to look into the matter. In the daily slog of other projects (Falcon Park, the landfill's construction and sewer upgrades) the project was not followed up on, to my regret. Too many other major projects with high price tags were on the table and this was not a financial priority at the time. That does not mean that it shouldn't have been done.
For some inane reason, beyond comprehension, the whole idea of doing more to commemorate her works and memory generates a negative response locally. Some have suggested it is racism, others cheapness. Whatever it is, it is a failure. A failure to understand her life, its meaning and the terrible cost of freedom.
This community has done the right thing when it comes to commemorating the efforts of others, such as Holland Stadium, Lattimore Hall and Pinckney Field. It still needs to do the right thing when it comes to Harriet Tubman.
It is one thing to suggest, but if the city will take on the challenge, I promise to raise $1,000 of the cost or pay the money myself. Why $1,000? That was the bounty in 1850, under the Fugitive Slave Act, of not sending an escaped slave, like Harriet Tubman, back to the South. Who else is willing to pony up?
Cosentino is a former mayor of Auburn and can be e-mailed at cozguytho@aol.com
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