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NODE 4: HARRIET TUBMAN’S ASYLUM FOR COLORED ORPHANS

• During Jim Crow era, major orphanages would not accept black children.
• In 1905, two Quaker sisters named Anna and Hannah Glass opened Harriet Tubman’s Asylum for Colored Orphans.
• Located in a formerly abandoned hotel in the Rondo neighborhood west of downtown St. Paul.
• Anna died of typhoid in 1913, the same year that Minneapolis finally acknowledge that their municipal water was the source of the typhoid outbreaks and opened a water purification plant to solve the problem.
• There are currently 47 children.
• Small staff of female attendants (of which Perlie Coleman is representative). Marcus Washington serves as a maintenance man and is now the best thing they have to a security guard.

TANIT CULTIST ACTIVITIES

• 5 kids have been kidnapped from the asylum by Tanit cultists. (They’re taken to Node 7: Harris Chemical Plant.)
• St. Paul Police have taken cursory reports, but have concluded that the kids are just run-aways.
• The staff has been similarly unable to get the local press interested.
• If either of those things were to change, the Tanit cultists would back off and leave the other children in the asylum alone. (They assume this will happen at some point, but aren’t surprised it hasn’t yet: They picked an asylum for black children for a reason.)

INVESTIGATING

• Evidence Collection: New locks have recently been placed on the windows.
• Evidence Collection: There’s a chemical residue on the carpet Alex Griffin’s bedroom.
  • Chemistry: It’s a patented polysaccharide created by a Minneapolis company called Harris Chemical (see Node 7: Harris Chemical Plant).
• Streetwise: Canvassing the neighborhood will discover that a Harris Chemical Plant truck has been seen parked near the orphanage during the time of each disappearance. (See Node 7: Harris Chemical Plant.)

MISSING KIDS (DATE TAKEN)

• Thomas Young (August 30^th) – missing from his bed, window unlocked (staff did, in fact, assume he was run-away)
• Millie Clark (September 8^th) – snatched from the street
• Edward Robinson (October 10^th) – was missing during a headcount following a recess period
• Frances Allen (October 31^st) – missing from her bed, cheap old lock had been jimmied (staff replaced the locks on all the windows after this)
• Alex Griffin (November 11^th) – missing from his bed, window was broken, other kids in his room were slow to wake up (Medicine: they were gassed)

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HANNAH GLASS

APPEARANCE:

• Prop: Photo of Hannah Glass

ROLEPLAYING NOTES

• Weary; in body, spirit, and voice
• Clasps her hands and wrings them with very small movements
• Fervently protective of the children

BACKGROUND

• Grew up in Pennsylvania. Her father was a frequent pastor in a “programmed” branch of Quakerism.
• She and her sister, Anna, became disillusioned with the program, believing fervently in the non-hierarchical structures of the faith. This estranged them from their father.
• In 1905, they opened the asylum.
• Anna died of typhoid in 1913, the same year that Minneapolis finally acknowledged that their municipal water was the source of the typhoid outbreaks and opened a water purification plant to solve the problem.
• She intends for Perlie Coleman to take over the asylum.

CLUES

• Knows the names and dates of the missing kids. (Very angry about the police and press being dismissive of it.)
• Can introduce PCs to Perlie Coleman and Marcus Washington.
• Reassurance 1: To get access to the kids.

HANNAH GLASS: Accounting 1, Bureaucracy 2, Oral History 4, Reassurance 6, Theology 5, Health 4
Alertness Modifier: +0
Stealth Modifier: +0
Weapons: fists (-2)

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PERLIE COLEMAN

APPEARANCE:

• Prop: Photo of Perlie Coleman

ROLEPLAYING NOTES

• If all the investigators are white, she will be painstakingly polite until reassured that they don’t pose a danger. (This deferential self-defense also means that the PCs won’t get anything useful from her.)
• Always keeping one eye on the kids; will randomly shout out cautions to them or a kid might run up and she’ll scoop them up.
• An incredibly warm smile if she trusts you.

BACKGROUND

• Perlie is an African Methodist Episcopalian.
• She grew up in Duluth.
• Her father was lynched by a white mob when she was seven years old. Her mother immediately took Perlie and her three sisters and moved to Minneapolis.
• Her mother has gone mostly blind and can’t work any more. Perlie depends on her job here at the asylum to support her.
• She is a caretaker and teacher for the children.

CLUES

• She discovered that Alex Griffin was missing. She remembers a sort of chemical smell that was lingering in the air.

PERLIE COLEMAN: Assess Honesty 5, First Aid 5, Library Use 5, Reassurance 8, Health 4
Alertness Modifier: +0
Stealth Modifier: +0
Weapons: fists (-2)

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MARCUS WASHINGTON

APPEARANCE:

• Prop: Photo of Marcus Washington

ROLEPLAYING NOTES

• Very protective of Hannah Glass and her reputation.
• Slow, powerful movements.
• A voice that sounds like a quiet river.

BACKGROUND

• An African Methodist Episcopalian.
• Began working for “the Missuses Glass” in 1906, so he’s been with the asylum almost from the beginning.
• He lives in the Rondo neighborhood. He usually walks six blocks to work.
• He’s been staying at the asylum overnight since Frances Allen was taken, acting as a sort of security guard to try to keep the kids safe. He’s incredibly angry with himself for not being able to stop Alex Griffin from being taken. He feels like he’s failed the children and Hannah.

KEY INFO

• Leveraged Clue: If the name “Harris Chemicals” is mentioned, he’ll say that there’s been a Harris Chemicals truck parked in the neighborhood recently. (He doesn’t think it’s significant and hasn’t connected it to the kidnappings, which is why he doesn’t mention it otherwise.)

MARCUS WASHINGTON: Assess Honesty 2, Athletics 5, Fleeing 2, Oral History 4, Scuffling 8, Sense Trouble 5, Streetwise 4, Health 6
Alertness Modifier: +1 (on edge)
Stealth Modifier: +0
Weapons: fists (-2)

Go to Node 5: Fatima’s Shrine