“Harriet Tubman, the Moses of Her People,” Golden Legacy: Illustrated History Magazine #2

The Golden Legacy comic book series aimed to inspire pride and self-esteem in Black children. Joan Bacchus Maynard wrote and drew three issues, including this one on the life of Harriet Tubman, the heroic shepherd of the Underground Railroad.



Maynard was a hero in her own right. She successfully spearheaded the effort to preserve the few remaining architectural remnants of Weeksville, Brooklyn. An economically and culturally thriving Black neighborhood of the mid-19th century, by the 1960s it was in danger of being forgotten. She once described the philosophy behind her preservation work: “We’ve got to make sure our kids know … what those who came before did to try to make a better life.” The pages of her Harriet Tubman comic resonate with the same sentiment.