COASTAL OBSERVER

The Friends of the Georgetown Library are raising money to pay for a small sculpture of Harriet Tubman that will be placed inside the library when it reopens.

The sculpture, titled “Whispers of My Ancestor,” features Tubman and her great-nephew, James Bowley. Bowley was one of the first enslaved people that Tubman freed. 

“Harriet Tubman belongs to Georgetown,” Steve Williams, author and historian, told the county’s library board earlier this month. “She never set foot here but because one of the first people she freed was James Bowley when he was 6 years old, he came here after the war and made a name for himself.”

The sculpture has already been designed by Wesley Wofford, who also created “Journey to Freedom,” a 9-foot sculpture of Tubman and a small child that recently spent three months in Joseph Rainey Park in Georgetown.

“It’s just a very special piece in so many ways,” Bob Willey, president of the Friends group, told the board. “It is Georgetown.”

Williams, who was on the committee that helped bring “Journey to Freedom” to Georgetown, thought a smaller piece would be a “wonderful accompaniment” to the library, which is currently undergoing a $1.5 million remodel.

The plan is for the 30-inch high sculpture to sit on top of a 3-foot tall pedestal near the entrance to the children’s area of library. Like “Journey to Freedom,” “Whispers of My Ancestor” will be touchable.

“It’s just a wonderful piece that we think will just be perfect,” Willey said. 

The Friends also want to have a portion of a letter Bowley sent to Tubman engraved on a bronze plaque and placed behind the sculpture.

“This is something that’s going to very popular amongst the younger set,” library director Dwight McInvaill told the board.

After living with Tubman while growing up, Bowley settled in Georgetown and received money from her to buy clothing and educational materials for African-American children.

“The relationship between the two of them is so beautiful and exemplifies so much of what our library is all about,” Willey said. 

“We want to celebrate that, just as Harriet Tubman is celebrated all over the country, I dare say, all over the world,” Williams said. “We want our young children to know how James Bowley helped Georgetown.”

After moving to Georgetown, Bowley became a teacher, school commissioner, judge, state legislator, college trustee and newspaper publisher.

“This is history,” Williams said. “It’s also educational.”

Wofford was inspired by Bowley when he visited Georgetown for the unveiling of a historic marker in front of 231 King St., the house where Bowley lived.

“He had the image come into his head of Harriet helping James get an education and get on with the world and that’s kind of where this came out of,” Kent Hermes, the current owner of the Bowley House, told the board.

Willey said the whole project will cost around $60,000. 

“A number of people have already expressed a lot of interest,” he added, and approximately $20,000 has already been pledged.

Hermes expects Wofford to visit the library to see the space where the sculpture will be.

To make a donation to the project visit myfogl.org.

The Georgetown facility, which opened in 1989 as the main branch in the library system, has been closed since June for a remodel. 

The $1.5 million project is funded by a bequeath from Jean Moody, a long-time patron who died in 2017. The county recently received a final payment of more than $66,000 from the estate.

The first part of the project was the addition of an auditorium. 

“We are thrilled with the renovations and the new auditorium,” Willey said. “We’re very excited about that as it’s been progressing and we’re looking forward to being able to enjoy that.”

The library board recently gave permission for the new auditorium to be named after Moody.

“I think it would be very appropriate to name the auditorium itself in honor of Mrs. Moody,” McInvaill said. “We’re not allowed by County Council to name the [library] after her and I really don’t think that would be appropriate.”

McInvaill told the board that work on the remodel is four weeks ahead of schedule and the overall project is under budget. The facility is scheduled to reopen in mid-April.