But the stage play "My General Tubman" tells the complex, often ignored history of Tubman as an officer during the civil war, a wife in her second marriage and a caretaker who worked to build a senior home for elderly former slaves and much more.
"If you look back at the slave narratives, they never talked about who they married, who they fell in love with, how they took care of their kids," said Lorene Cary, who penned the stage play. "They don't tell that, they don't get to have a personal story."
A renowned best-selling author of the book "Black Ice," Cary is a first-time playwright. She says she became fascinated with Tubman after learning of the time she spent in Philadelphia.
She wrote "My General Tubman" to showcase the icon's prowess as a military officer — the only woman to lead men during the Civil War and free more than 750 enslaved people.
But she also wanted to highlight Tubman's humanity.
"She chose a night with a full moon so they could see where they were going," said Cary. "All the stuff she did; low tech, low dollars, low death. She was about life."
"My General Tubman" will run at the Arden from Jan. 16 through March 1.