Visiting the Harriet Tubman visitor center on Juneteenth
Monday is Juneteenth, commonly celebrated as the day that slavery came to an official end in the United States.
On June 19, 1865, Major Gen. Gordon Granger came to Galveston, Texas, to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Abraham Lincoln to free the slaves two and a half years earlier.
In the 15 years before Juneteenth, Harriet Tubman was leading escaped slaves to freedom using the Underground Railroad, a secret network of trails, waterways and safe houses.
The new Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center in Church Creek, Maryland, explains how Tubman managed to lead as many as 70 slaves to new lives in the North. That's where CBS News' Chip Reid ran into some children on a field trip: Asher, Savannah and Hailey Allen, and Olivia and Alden Austin.
"Why do you love Harriet Tubman?" Reid asked the kids.
"She's a lovely woman, and she's been through a lot, and I'm glad she freed all the slaves," Hailey.
"That she helped all the slaves get away," Asher said.
What impressed them the most about Harriet Tubman? "That she was brave enough to go back and help others, despite like all the hardships of being a slave," Savannah said.
"When she did get free she tried to take all her family members," Olivia said.
"So she escaped, and she came back again and again. Does that surprise you?" Reid asked.
"It would be really hard to go back, but she cared about everyone," Savannah said.
"Have you been surprised to see all the things Harriet Tubman did?" Reid asked.
"Yes. I think she's a wonderful woman, and if she was still alive, she would do a lot of great things," Alden said.
