Kym Golden ’96 Completes 245-Mile Walk to Honor the Life of Harriet Tubman

Kym Golden ’96 spent several weekends in the summer of 2019 remembering and honoring Harriet Tubman through a journey that spanned over 700 miles, including 245 miles walked (from Preston, MD to NYC, then Niagara Falls to Salem Chapel BME Church in St. Catharines, Ontario). Kym was joined at various points on the journey by her friends Metra and Selina, who documented the journey through film and photography, and her father Roland, who trailed them during several portions of the walk in a vehicle equipped with gear, food, and minor first-aid supplies.

The idea came about after Metra and Kym toured the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center in Church Creek, MD in May 2018. Each stage of the walk, completed over four weekends from June-August 2019, mirrored Tubman’s life and activism – the horrors of slavery she faced in Dorchester County, MD; her escape to Philadelphia and subsequent return to her family in Maryland; and her ensurance of safe travel to Canada (then British North America) via the Underground Railroad for freedom seekers.

Kym candidly described the challenges of making the trip: blisters, sunburn, and burning feet. “Without preparation tips and gear suggestions from Nora [my trainer], I don’t think I would have made it through the first day,” Kym said. The trip was also impacted by personal tragedy, as Kym’s mother passed away from breast cancer in January 2019. “If my mom were alive, she would have traveled alongside us, with my father,” she said. “Since she was not able to join in body, I carried her with me in my heart and mind.”

Kym’s friend Metra is currently working on a documentary about the trip entitled A Walk in Her Shoes. “It includes people she shared the walk with at different points and highlights historical or educational places related to Harriet Tubman, including interviews at some of these places,” Kym explained.

When looking back on her travels, a lingering image remains in Kym’s memory: butterflies. Kym affixed her mother’s brooch, in the shape of a butterfly, to her hydro pack at the beginning of the walk. Throughout the trek, she saw real butterflies on many occasions, but she lost the brooch somewhere along the road at one point. “When I returned to work a few days later, I told a co-worker the story of the butterfly brooch,” Kym said. “She was moved by my story and surprised me with a new brooch. This one was of two butterflies, a larger one connected to a smaller one, both fiery red. It was very thoughtful – a symbol of my mom and me on the journey together. A constant reminder to keep going, don’t give up and that I’m never alone.”

Photos – Top: Kym with a bust of Harriet Tubman. Bottom: Kym with her father Roland.