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In honor of Women’s History Month we take this opportunity to renew and Recognize March 10th as Harriet Tubman Day in the City of Philadelphia.
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WHEREAS, Harriett Tubman’s exact date of birth is unknown, it is estimated that she was born Araminta Ross to Harriet Green and Benjamin Ross sometime between 1820 and 1822 in Dorchester County, Maryland; and
WHEREAS, Harriet Tubman is also known as the “Moses of her people,” was born into slavery. As a young girl, she survived a traumatic brain injury and experienced visions that guided her, she escaped and helped others gain their freedom as a “conductor" of the Underground Railroad; and
WHEREAS, During her lifetime, Tubman also served as a spy, a scout, a guerrilla soldier, and a nurse for the Union Army during the Civil War <https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/topics/civil-war-and-reconstruction>. She is also considered to be the first African American woman to serve in the military; and
WHEREAS, It was resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress, that March 10, 1990 be designated as “Harriet Tubman Day”, to be observed by the people of the United States with appropriate ceremonies and activities; and
WHEREAS, In celebrating Harriet Tubman’s life, we remember her commitment to freedom and her extraordinary courage; and
WHEREAS, When Harriet Tubman escaped her own slavery by reaching Philadelphia, she said "I was a stranger in a strange land. My father, my mother, my brothers and sisters and friends were in Maryland. But I was free and they should be free”; and
WHEREAS, It is believed that over the span of 11 years, Tubman rescued over 70 slaves in about 13 expeditions including her brothers, Henry, Ben, and Robert, their wives and some of their children. It is also believed that Tubman provided specific instructions to 50 to 60 additional fugitives who were then able to escape to the north; and
WHEREAS, Harriet Tubman was sheltered at Philadelphia’s Johnson House in Germantown, a hub of the Underground Railroad, and would guide African Americans from the slave states to Lucretia Mott’s house in Cheltenham; and
WHEREAS, In honor of the 108th Anniversary of Harriet Tubman’s death, March 10, 2021 and Women’s History Month; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we honor and recognize March 10, 2021 as Harriet Tubman Day in Philadelphia and observe Women’s History Month in the City of Philadelphia.
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