Sarah Hopkins Bradford, of Geneva, New York, recorded the life story of Harriet Tubman in 1868, based on interviews with Tubman, in an attempt to get her story out and improve her financial situation. The printing was financed by Gerrit Smith, Wendell Phillips, William H. Seward, Jr., and other friends and former anti-slavery associates. A second revised edition was published in 1886.
Digitized full-text reproductions of printed editions available through Google Books
Earl Conrad's biography of Harriet Tubman, the first serious attempt to reconstruct her life since Sarah Bradford's biographical sketches, was rejected by over 30 publishers before finally being published in 1943. It stood as the most authoritative source on Harriet Tubman for more than 60 years.