Aunt Polly Jackson

Harriet Tubman’s operations on The Underground Railroad are legendary in the history of resistance movements. Luckily Harriet wasn’t alone out there, many men and women were as dedicated to the cause as she was. Let’s talk about Aunt Polly Jackson for a moment.

We don’t know a lot about Polly’s past, but she was once a fugitive on The Underground Railroad until she was offered some land in Africa, Ohio where she began her farm. She would offer housing for those passing through but one day decided that wasn’t enough.

Knowing slave catchers had been in the area too often, she decided to dress up as an old lady. Doing this allowed her to get close. Then she’d attack them with a butcher knife and a kettle of boiling water. She was about that action and would set free any captured slaves and lead them to safety.

Family or not, she is your Auntie.