I am sad to have learned two of Harriet Tubman’s descendants recently passed. Ms. Pauline Copes Johnson, of Auburn, NY and Louise Davis, on Friday December 5, of Bristol Borough, PA.
Both women dedicated their lives to preserving the legacy and history of their ancestor’s spirit. I was introduced to Ms. Johnson, great-great grandniece of Harriet Tubman, standing next to me in the picture below, and members of the Auburn GirlTrek, by historian Judith Wellman, who came out to greet me upon my arrival at the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park in August 2022, during my walk across New York to Canada tracing the Underground Railroad. Ms. Johnson was 98 years old and the oldest member of the Harriet Tubman Memorial AME Zion Church in Auburn. Here’s a link to an article about her life by the Auburn Citizen.
I met Ms. Louise Davis at a ceremony organized by Ms. Debbie Price, at the conclusion of a 165-mile walk I completed in May 2022, following the Underground Railroad from Cape May to Burlington, NJ. Ms. Davis read a beautiful poem by Poet Laureate Robert Hayden called “Runagate Runagate.” 
In a 2016 interview, Davis, a descendent of of Tubman’s father’s brother, said “Her contribution to the country in many ways was not acknowledged.” “She represents the unstoppable determination in light of many obstacles to make sure that people were treated equally and more in the spirit of our Declaration of Independence.”