Harriet Tubman is featured in a new mural near the corner of Maryland Avenue and Route 50 in Cambridge, Maryland. The mural is the newest in a series of murals in Dorchester County, Maryland, where Tubman was born into slavery around 1822.
The mural highlights Cambridge’s rich African-American history, culture and heritage, particularly in the community around Pine Street, which is one of the oldest African-American communities in the country. The 11-foot-by-48-foot mural was created by artist Michael Rosato, whose studio is in downtown Cambridge. Rosato’s work is featured in museums, public spaces and private residences across the country.
The mural includes some of Dorchester’s most well-known citizens — Harriet Tubman, the most famous “conductor” of the Underground Railroad in the mid-1800s, and Gloria Richardson Dandridge, a key figure in the civil rights movement in the 1960s — as well as ordinary citizens such as a bricklayer, a barber, and a baker.
“At the center of the mural is Harriet Tubman, who is a symbol of courage, hard work, perseverance, and loyalty to her family and community,” said the mural artist, Michael Rosato. “Everything radiates out from her, from her heart and center.”
The mural is just the beginning of a larger plan to design and develop this corner, which is being considered the “gateway” to Cambridge’s downtown area.
The mural was funded through a grant from the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority and the Federal Highway Administration, and is one of a series of murals throughout Dorchester County that are part of the Chesapeake Country Mural Trail. Find out more about the mural trail.