In 1835, while she was running errands at a local store, Harriet Tubman witnessed another enslaved person’s attempted escape. She refused to assist the freedom seeker's enslaver in capturing the fugitive. As the enslaver became desperate in their attempt to recapture the freedom seeker, he threw a two-pound weight. Rather than hitting the intended target, he struck Tubman in the back of the head and fractured her skull. After the incident, physical pain became a consistent part of Tubman’s life. She experienced chronic pain from headaches and uncontrollable bouts of seizures, which Tubman herself referred to as “sleeping spells.” Historians now know that Tubman had narcolepsy. Vivid visions of freedom came to her while experiencing these seizures. Historian Deidre Cooper Owens spoke to the importance of Tubman’s disability, writing that “she offered up a version of freedom where a disabled Black woman sat at the center of it, where Black women were liberators, and where liberation was communal and democratic.”

In honor of Disability Pride Month, learn more about Harriet Tubman’s life and other disable women’s experiences throughout US history in this month’s featured biographies.

Use the NWHM’s compendium of online biographies to spark curiosity and dig deeper into women’s impact throughout our shared national history. Explore more here.