A Cashiers sculpture studio is thanking the community for their help in transporting a Harriet Tubman statue from the mountains of North Carolina to Philadelphia.
Their story could be the basis for a movie involving a last-ditch effort led by two men, their dog Jack, and the sculpture’s 10-hour journey from Sylva to Philadelphia in a firewood truck.
Wesley Wofford is the sculptor who created a 2,400-pound and nine-feet-tall statue portraying Harriet Tubman fighting against the wind to lead a slave girl on the Underground Railroad to freedom. Tubman’s clothing is blown backward to symbolize her struggle, while the child’s foot hangs off the back of the pedestal symbolizing the dangers faced on the missions to freedom.
Thanks to the late Cashiers potter Justin Allman, who died last fall, and his grandmother, Wofford’s “Journey to Freedom” statue was scheduled to be unveiled in front of Philadelphia City Hall last week.
“We were friends with him for years and collaborated with him on a lot of things,” Odyssey Wofford said. “But he has family in Philadelphia and he loved ‘Journey to Freedom’ so much. He was like we’ve got to get the piece in Philadelphia. We said, well, good luck with that.”
Allman passed away in October while the Woffords had their trip to Philadelphia scheduled for most of last year. The sculpture has been in several cities across the country, including a brief, three-month stint in Sylva thanks to the Jackson County NAACP.
But the long journey to Philadelphia this month almost didn’t happen when the driver tasked with transporting the statue backed out at the last minute.
“It’s been scheduled for months, with a forklift and downtown Philly closing off the streets around City Hall,” Wesley said. “It’s been scheduled for nine months.”
How Wofford was supposed to get his statue across several states in a matter of days in time for the unveiling on Jan. 11 was unknown. While he owns two trailers, neither one is equipped to carry and then unload the statue in Philadelphia.
“On Thursday, we were in panic mode,” Odyssey said. “It’s got to hit deadlines on both ends. We started thinking about Cashiers and who do we know and how many connections, who has a truck?”
Odyssey used to teach at Summit Charter School, and her former student stepped up to the plate to assist with a firewood trailer that could potentially make the trip.
The couple contacted Wayne Hooper with the McNeely’s rental company in Cashiers, who instantly started thinking of contacts. McNeely’s has been helpful in installing sculptures with the Woffords over the years, including at The Village Green.
Josh Crawford, who owns a firewood business on the plateau, was also contacted for assistance. Crawford instantly answered the call, giving the Woffords the name of a person who had a truck.
The sculpture needed to be on the road at noon on Friday, Odyssey said, and while she was still hesitant about whether everything would be insured and licensed, in comes Collin Stoltzfus and his friend, Logan Petrone.
“The two delivered the sculpture,” Odyssey said. “We met them in Sylva and the sculpture fit on the truck. My next concern was whether our measurements were going to be off or something, it was going to be too tall, because it’s never actually gone on the back of a truck. It’s always gone on a trailer.”
The Woffords, Stoltzfus and Petrone were on their way to Philadelphia on Friday, hoping they would arrive on Monday, Jan. 10, to install the sculpture before the unveiling the following morning.
The next hurdle was the two men traveling with the sculpture in the back of their truck across state lines and in weather conditions, Odyssey said.
While the pair did make it to Philadelphia, they had some trouble getting a hotel room Sunday night because they were under the age of 21. A Hampton Inn near Philadelphia allowed the men to stay for just a few hours to get some rest before the big installation on Monday morning.
“I can’t say enough or brag enough about how they handled this task,” Odyssey said. “They were able to hit everything beautifully. They arrived 30 minutes early before we did at City Hall to install it.”
The two men also had a Golden Retriever named Jack with them, and Wesley said the dog captivated the city officials watching the unveiling.
“It’s on a firewood truck and there’s a dog running around City Hall,” Wesley said. “It’s really small town going to the city.”
Wesley is currently working on another Harriet Tubman statue, which will be unveiled in the fall in front of a courthouse in Cambridge, Maryland, Tubman’s birthplace.
- By Michael O'Hearn/Crossroads Chronicle