CAMBRIDGE, Md. (AP) — The state of Maryland is asking the federal government to designate part of the Eastern Shore as a national monument to abolitionist Harriet Tubman.
Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley, along with the state’s two Democratic U.S. senators and Republican Rep. Andy Harris, sent the letter Friday to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.
They say the designation would be an interim step toward their goal of establishing two Harriet Tubman national parks — one recognizing her birthplace near Cambridge and the other marking her grave in Auburn, N.Y.
The Maryland national monument would include parts of the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge and 480 adjacent acres donated by the Conservation Fund.
The donated property was home to Jacob Jackson, a free black man who helped Tubman’s brothers escape slavery.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
