HR 275 — A Resolution recognizing the month of September 2025 as "International Underground Railroad Month" in Pennsylvania.

PRINTER'S NO.   2051

                  THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA



           HOUSE RESOLUTION
              No. 275
                                                 Session of
                                                   2025

     INTRODUCED BY SAPPEY, D. WILLIAMS, FREEMAN, PIELLI, VENKAT,
        RIVERA, WAXMAN, VITALI, McNEILL, ABNEY, SAMUELSON, GUENST,
        SANCHEZ, HILL-EVANS, CONKLIN, M. JONES, GALLAGHER AND
        HOHENSTEIN, JUNE 27, 2025

     REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON TOURISM, RECREATION AND ECONOMIC
        DEVELOPMENT, JUNE 30, 2025


                                  A RESOLUTION
 1   Recognizing the month of September 2025 as "International
 2      Underground Railroad Month" in Pennsylvania.
 3      WHEREAS, The trans-Atlantic slave trade began as early as the
 4   15th century, introducing a system of slavery that was
 5   commercialized, racialized and inherited; and
 6      WHEREAS, People were forcefully abducted from Africa,
 7   enslaved in the American colonies and exploited to work in the
 8   production of crops, such as tobacco and cotton; and
 9      WHEREAS, Although the Commonwealth passed a law in 1780 that
10   gradually eliminated slavery, the existing 6,000 enslaved people
11   in this Commonwealth remained enslaved and the enslaved people's
12   registered children would be enslaved until their 28th
13   birthdays; and
14      WHEREAS, Although a person could no longer legally import
15   enslaved people, they could buy and sell those who had been
16   registered after 1780; and
 1         WHEREAS, The law freed few enslaved people immediately; and
 2         WHEREAS, The Commonwealth continued to tolerate and profit
 3   from the labor of enslaved people for decades and many
 4   Commonwealth cities enacted legislation that restricted and
 5   oppressed free people of color; and
 6         WHEREAS, During the era of slavery in the United States, the
 7   Underground Railroad covertly operated as a network of places,
 8   routes and people that assisted African Americans who were
 9   enslaved to escape to freedom; and
10         WHEREAS, The term Underground Railroad was used
11   metaphorically as "conductors," which included a racially
12   diverse group of abolitionists that transported and guided the
13   "passengers" traveling along the routes; and
14         WHEREAS, "Station masters" hid the freedom seekers at
15   "stations" which included homes, barns, churches and businesses;
16   and
17         WHEREAS, Freedom seekers who arrived at the safe houses were
18   referred to as "cargo"; and
19         WHEREAS, This Commonwealth was a strategic and historic
20   location of freedom through the Underground Railroad; and
21         WHEREAS, The Underground Railroad traced across this
22   Commonwealth in a clandestine network that helped African
23   Americans realize freedom in this Commonwealth and elsewhere;
24   and
25         WHEREAS, Organizations such as the American Anti-Slavery
26   Society, the Free Produce Society of Pennsylvania, the
27   Philadelphia Free Produce Association of Friends, the
28   Pennsylvania Hall Association, the Pennsylvania Society for
29   Promoting the Abolition of Slavery, the Pennsylvania Yearly
30   Meeting of Progressive Friends, Germantown Quaker Petition

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 1   Against Slavery and the Vigilant Committee of Philadelphia
 2   worked tirelessly toward abolition within this Commonwealth; and
 3        WHEREAS, Events and sites associated with the Underground
 4   Railroad can be found in every county in this Commonwealth; and
 5        WHEREAS, The Underground Railroad was integral in the freedom
 6   and advancement of African Americans in the past, as well as
 7   today; and
 8        WHEREAS, The Commonwealth should show appreciation for the
 9   inspiring efforts of the people of this Commonwealth and all of
10   those from around the world who have committed themselves to
11   document and share the Underground Railroad through the
12   Pennsylvania Civil War Sesquicentennial and Quest for Freedom
13   programs that connected Underground Railroad sites across this
14   Commonwealth, the National Park Service's National Underground
15   Railroad Network to Freedom program that lists 43 sites and
16   facilities in this Commonwealth and the United Nations
17   Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's Sites of
18   Memory designations; and
19        WHEREAS, Commonwealth agencies, institutions and
20   organizations such as the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum
21   Commission, the Department of Community and Economic Development
22   and the 14 Frederick Douglass Institutes across the Pennsylvania
23   State System of Higher Education continue to educate young
24   people about the Commonwealth's role and leadership; and
25        WHEREAS, "International Underground Railroad Month" provides
26   an opportunity for a worldwide open dialogue that illuminates
27   the hopes that arise from freedom for all people; therefore be
28   it
29        RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives recognize the
30   month of September 2025 as "International Underground Railroad

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1   Month" in Pennsylvania; and be it further
2      RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives honor all of
3   those who have fought and continue to fight for the freedom of
4   all people.




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