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William Still, founder of the Philadelphia Vigilant Committee, receives a letter in code from Abolitionist Quaker Thomas Garrett, telling him news of “Moses” and her human cargo moving north towards his safe house. Still sings of Harriet Tubman, known as Moses, the extraordinarily courageous woman who “never lost a passenger” along the underground railroad. Miles south, as night falls, Harriet returns to her latest group of exhausted, frightened fugitive slaves and recounts her adventures attempting to scout a safe passage to the next stopping place. She and John, another slave, sing the spiritual “God Down Moses” to raise the spirits of their fellow travelers. Later, in a safe house owned by Thomas and Sarah Garrett, food, shelter and a Quaker lullaby (“Simple Gifts”) are provided. Moving on the next night, (“Follow the Drinking Gourd”, some slaves lose heart and want to return south. Harriet threatens to kill anyone who turns back, since one slave spilling secrets about the route could cost the lives of many. As they move on, she tells them about Mr. Still and his “great book” in which he writes their names and stories, and which became, in fact, the first published account of the Underground Railroad. As they move on through the dark woods Mr. Still sings again of Tubman and her mythic courage. The opera ends as Harriet and the fugitives trudge toward freedom.
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