On the recordMarch 20, 2024
as we celebrate the history and contributions of women this month, I rise today to commemorate the legacy of one of our Nation's--and my beloved State of Maryland's--most iconic figures, Harriet Tubman. Congress began officially recognizing March 10 as Harriet Tubman Day in 1990, and I am always grateful to speak to her accomplishments. Throughout her life, she served as an abolitionist, solider, spy, and most famously, as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. I would like to reflect on her contributions to human rights, civil rights, and women's rights in our Nation and to renew my commitment to addressing the shameful legacy of slavery in Maryland and across the U.S. Harriet Tubman was born Araminta Ross to enslaved parents in Bucktown, MD, in 1822. After emancipating herself, she dedicated her life to the advancement of freedom and the fight against slavery. Araminta adopted the name ``Harriet'' at the time of her marriage to John Tubman, a free Black man, around the year 1844. Tubman and her husband continued to live in Dorchester County until her escape from slavery in 1849, at the age of 27. She would courageously return to make over 13 dangerous trips to lead nearly 70 enslaved people seeking freedom, repeatedly risking her life in pursuit of our Nation's highest aspirational ideal. Tubman became known as the ``Moses of her people'' by African- Americans and White abolitionists.…





