1822–1913 · Leaders

Harriet Tubman signature

Abolitionist, Underground Railroad conductor and Union scout (c. 1822–1913)

Harriet Tubman’s name in a period style

A rendering in a modern handwriting font, made for this page. It is not the real signature; see where to view the original below. Where to see the original ↓Style: Birthstone, slant 0°

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Birthstone

Who Harriet Tubman was

Harriet Tubman (c. 1822–1913) was born into slavery in Dorchester County, Maryland, as Araminta Ross. She escaped in 1849 and went back to Maryland again and again to guide family members and others north on the Underground Railroad. During the Civil War she worked for the Union Army as a nurse, scout and spy, and helped lead the Combahee River raid of 1863.

She spent her later life in Auburn, New York, where she cared for elderly and poor African Americans and supported the campaign for women’s suffrage.

The story of the signature

Tubman never learned to read or write. On legal papers she did what people who could not write had long done: someone else wrote out her name, and she made her mark, an X, which was then witnessed.

Her mark survives on her pension papers at the National Archives. In a general affidavit of about 1898 she set out her wartime service, and the document is completed with her mark rather than a written signature. In 1899 Congress approved an increase in her pension.

So there is no handwritten Harriet Tubman signature to imitate. Anything that shows her name in flowing script is someone else’s lettering, and that includes the rendering on this page, which is simply her name set in a font.

What makes it distinctive

A mark, not a name

On legal documents her signature is an X made by her own hand, with her name written beside it by a clerk.

Witnessed

Marks were normally attested by witnesses who could vouch that she made them, and their names appear with hers.

Full legal weight

A witnessed mark was a valid signature. Her affidavit counted as fully as one signed in writing.

How to give your signature a similar feel

Tubman’s papers show that a signature is any mark you make consistently and intend as your own. It does not need to be elaborate.
For a simple, legible signature, try an upright font such as Birthstone on the Type tab of the signature generator, with Slant at 0° and black ink.
If writing is difficult for you, for example because of a disability, the Draw tab lets you make a simple mark or your initials with a mouse, finger or stylus.
Already have a signature or mark on paper? The Upload tab turns a photo of it into a clean transparent PNG.

Where to see the original

These links lead to archives, libraries, museums and Wikimedia Commons.

Questions about Harriet Tubman’s signature

Did Harriet Tubman have a signature?

She signed legal documents with her mark, an X, because she never learned to read or write. Her pension affidavit at the National Archives is an example.

Is the signature on this page Harriet Tubman’s handwriting?

No. It is her name typed in a font, shown as a tribute. She did not write her name herself.

Is a mark a legal signature?

In general, yes: a person’s mark, properly witnessed, has long been accepted in place of a written name. Rules vary by country and by document, so check what a particular form requires.