AUBURN #- Harriet Tubman is perhaps best known as the “Moses of her People” for her tireless work to free slaves with her work on the Underground Railroad.

But there is also another way to look at Tubman and her life's work, both within the abolitionist movement and her work later in life taking care of others on her Auburn property.

Tubman was also a pioneer in women's liberation.

Tubman died March 10, 1913, and since 1999, the Harriet Tubman home has set aside this date to celebrate and honor her life's work with Harriet Tubman Day, a celebration that works to teach about her as well as the times she lived in.

“Since 1999 we have tried to do something every year,” Christine Carter, tour coordinator at the Harriet Tubman House, said. “We try to do something for the children. They learn about her in school. So we have Harriet Tubman Day to commemorate everything she did. This is something we would like to see nationwide and statewide, but locally we knew that this was something that was needed.”

Auburn Mayor Michael Quill was on hand to present Carter with a document proclaiming Tuesday the annual Harriet Tubman Day in Auburn, stating that Tubman deserved this honor for her work and contributions in the fight against slavery.

Carter said this celebration started out as an open house day at the Tubman home, but over the past several years she has strived to make the day educational, gathering guest speakers and presenters to talk not only about Tubman, but also about other important historical figures.

“We've really worked to have something for the kids,” Carter said. “We want the kids to learn about history and not only about Harriet Tubman, but about other women in history as well.”

On Tuesday morning, students from schools in Syracuse and Geneva as well as Auburn's Montessori School, gathered at the visitor center for the celebration, with more than 100 in attendance.

This year's guest speaker was Randy Allen, creator and owner of Girls Explore, an Ithaca based company that creates dolls of historical female figures. Among her creations is a doll of Tubman.

“We had been in contact for a while,” Carter said. “She has created figures of athletes and suffragettes. I thought that this would be great, especially for girls. They get to learn about these women who were models for the past and see how they can be models in the future and models right here today.”

Among Allen's dolls depicting figures such as Amelia Earhart and Bessie Coleman, both of whom made significant contributions to females in flight, Coleman being the first black female pilot; Dr. Dot Richardson, who along with being an orthopedic surgeon was also captain of the U.S. Olympic softball team in 2000 and 2004, earning several gold medals; and Mildred “Babe” Didrikson Zaharis, who was also a pioneer in women's athletics, earning Olympic gold and helping to establish the LPGA, so women could play golf on the professional level.

Allen said she has been working on these dolls and the stories of the women behind them since 2003. In that time, as well as selling the dolls, she has also been using them to present to students in central New York as a means of conveying the stories of these and other women.

After speaking about each figure, Allen asked the students one question, the idea of what Tubman might be doing if she were here today.

The students impressed Allen with their answers.

“They said some great things,” Allen said. “They said she might be working for Darfur, she might be working to help people get jobs and keep their houses and that she would still be working to eliminate prejudice.”

Among the students gathered were children form Eagle Wings Academy, in Syracuse. Donna Romano, a language arts teacher, said that she saw this as a great opportunity to bring history to life.

“We've been learning about her (Tubman) in class,” Romano said. “We've been incorporating her into our lessons in language arts and social studies and we thought this would be the perfect day to bring the students out here. Seeing her home makes this real all of a sudden. The students are really astonished. She isn't just a character in a book; this has really brought her and her history to life for the students.”