Raymond Lane Jr.

Raymond S. Lane, Jr. is a sculptor known for creating a series of hand-built clay sculptures about Harriet Tubman. The sculptures were first displayed at an exhibit in the Public Library of Hamilton County titled "Harriet Tubman's Experience in the Underground Railroad." The sculptures are now permanently loaned at the Harriet Beecher Stowe House in Cincinnati, Ohio, where they are on display.

Early life

Raymond S. Lane, Jr. was born and raised in West End, Cincinnati. He attended St. Joseph’s School and Dyer School before his family moved to Walnut Hills, where he lived near the Harriet Beecher Stowe House. He attended Assumption School and Frederick Douglass Elementary School there.

Lane developed an interest in art and sculpture at a young age, thanks to his uncle Wallace Young, who was also a sculptor. He went on to study art and sculpture at the University of Cincinnati. He became a teacher of sculpture, working for many years at various Cincinnati Recreation Centers.

Career

Lane exhibited at the 1996 National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta, Georgia, as part of the Olympics celebration. His works have been exhibited at Fifth Third Bank, WCET Gallery, and the Cincinnati Zoo, and he has exhibited and sold his works at several United Negro College Fund functions. On permanent display at Northern Kentucky University is his mural, the "Slavery Experience Through the Middle Passage into the Underground Railroad."

"Harriet Tubman's Experience in the Underground Railroad"

This series of sculptures tell the story of events that chronicle Harriet Tubman's legacy. The sculpture series begins with an adult reading the story of Tubman to a youngster. The remaining sculptures focus on events in Tubman’s experiences as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. One sculpture depicts Tubman with a lantern looking at a young slave hiding under a trap door. Another shows her guiding youngsters by boat, presumably through a swamp, terrain typical of Maryland’s Eastern Shore, where Tubman was born a slave in about 1822.

The inspiration for this series came from Lane's visit to Tubman's house. He later studied Tubman's life while living in Ohio. He worked on the sculptures in a donated studio space within the basement of Assumption Church in Walnut Hills.