File #: Res 0170-2002    Version: * Name: Declare holiday honoring Harriet Tubman.
Type: Resolution Status: Filed
Committee: Committee on Cultural Affairs, Libraries and International Intergroup Relations
On agenda: 4/10/2002
Enactment date: Law number:
Title: Resolution supporting the present effort in the New York State Legislature to declare a holiday honoring the life and works of Harriet Tubman.
Sponsors: Yvette D. Clarke, Jose M. Serrano, Christine C. Quinn, James Sanders, Jr., Robert Jackson, Charles Barron, Allan W. Jennings, Jr., Helen D. Foster, Leroy G. Comrie, Jr., Miguel Martinez, Diana Reyna, Alan J. Gerson, Hiram Monserrate, Melinda R. Katz, Maria Baez, Tracy L. Boyland, Simcha Felder, Margarita Lopez, Michael E. McMahon, Eva S. Moskowitz, Bill Perkins, Philip Reed, Larry B. Seabrook, Helen Sears, Joel Rivera, Albert Vann
Council Member Sponsors: 26
Res. No. 170 Title Resolution supporting the present effort in the New York State Legislature to declare a holiday honoring the life and works of Harriet Tubman. Body By Council Members Clarke, Serrano, Quinn, Sanders, Jackson, Barron, Jennings, Foster, Comrie, Martinez, Reyna, Gerson, Monserrate, Katz, Baez, Boyland, Felder, Lopez, McMahon, Moskowitz, Perkins, Reed, Seabrook and Sears; also Council Members Rivera and Vann Whereas, The New York State Assembly is presently considering an act amending ยง 24 of the General Construction Law, designating March 10th as Harriet Tubman Day; and Whereas, Harriet Tubman is a true heroine who devoted her life to the liberation of the enslaved and to the sacred and inviolable principle of freedom; and Whereas, Although born bound on a Maryland plantation, Harriet Tubman escaped in 1849 to Philadelphia and to freedom, and there began her involvement with the network of abolitionists known as the Underground Railroad, whose members worked to help the enslaved escape to free states; and Whereas, Harriet Tubman ultimately became one of the Railroad's most influential "conductors" (a guide who led slaves to freedom); and Whereas, During the Civil War, Harriet Tubman furthered the cause of freedom, serving as a cook in the Union Army in South Carolina, a nurse, a scout for raiding parties, and a spy behind Confederate lines; service which, upon her death, earned her a burial in Auburn, New York with full military honors; and Whereas, Harriet Tubman had a deep connection with New York, having made the acquaintance of United States Senator, Secretary of State and former New York State Governor William H. Seward and wife Frances in Auburn, New York; in 1857 the Sewards provided a home for Harriet Tubman in Auburn, New York, which was later sold to her and became her new base of operations for the "Underground Railroad;" and Whereas, Harriet Tubman was a great patriot, a great New Yorker, and a great friend and defender of the freedoms of all, and lived a life worthy of popular memory and recognition; now, therefore be it Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York supports the present effort in the New York State Legislature to declare a holiday honoring the life and works of Harriet Tubman.