What Does Being Of Service To God Mean?

There’s a graveyard in Auburn, New York, with lush grass and weathered gravestones. One of these stones marks Harriet Tubman's final resting place. 

Tubman’s gravestone reads, “Servant of God. Well done.” 

After the Civil War, Tubman moved from Maryland to Auburn. For 50 years, she cultivated family and community in the Thompson Memorial AME Zion Church. 

Her position in the church proved that even after enslavement ended, Tubman still conducted Black people to freedom. 

As Tubman’s parents aged, she became concerned with the wellbeing of Black elders. Using money earned from selling her biography, she bought 25 acres of land near her home. 

She dreamt of opening a home for the elderly. In 1903 she transferred ownership of her land to the AME Zion Church, with the understanding that they’d build the Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged and Infirm Negroes.

The home opened in 1908. Tubman herself moved there in 1911, and remained until her death in 1913. 

Today, Auburn’s AME Zion Church preserves the home as part of the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park, inviting the world to appreciate Tubman’s legacy. 

Tubman is mainly remembered for her work with the Underground Railroad, but this is only one  of her accomplishments. She dedicated her entire life to service. 

Let’s all live in such a way that our communities will consider our work well done, too.