Today, on Harriet Tubman Day, Maryland Congressman Chris Van Hollen announced that he will introduce legislation that will bring a statue of Harriet Tubman to the U.S. Capitol Building.
"Harriet Tubman is an American icon and a courageous abolitionist hero," said Congressman Van Hollen. "Born in Maryland, she became a conductor on the Underground Railroad to lead slaves to freedom, served as a Union spy, and pushed for women's suffrage. Her relentless pursuit of universal freedom and human rights represents the best in Maryland and the nation. I look forward to her life and work being commemorated permanently in the U.S. Capitol."
Congressman Van Hollen also supports placing Harriet Tubman's portrait on currency. He urged Treasury Secretary Jack Lew to choose Tubman's portrait as the agency moves forward with a planned redesign of the $10 bill.
In 2012, the Maryland General Assembly passed legislation creating the Harriet Tubman Statue Commission to fundraise and commission an artist to sculpt a statue to donate for display in the U.S. Capitol Building. Congress must pass legislation in order to accept the donation, and Congressman Van Hollen's bill is the critical next step in the process. It will direct the Joint Committee on the Libraries, which manages art in the U.S Capitol Building, to enter into an agreement to accept the statue after it is completed.
"It was a very long road for Harriet Tubman from the Eastern Shore to freedom," said Linda Mahoney, President Emerita of Maryland NOW and Chair of the Harriet Tubman Statue Fundraising Commission. "But instead of stopping when she was safe, she returned to free slaves and perform other heroic deeds. And that wasn't enough for Harriet; after the war she raised money for education and hospitals for former slaves and worked for women's suffrage."
Mahoney continued, "Thanks to Sen. Susan Lee and other visionaries in the Maryland General Assembly, and now thanks to Rep. Chris Van Hollen and other Congressmembers, we are finally a few steps further toward moving a statue of Harriet Tubman into the U.S. Capitol. The Maryland Chapter of the National Organization for Women has been privileged to lead the effort to recognize this true American hero, and we thank the thousands of Marylanders who signed petitions and lobbied for a statue to this icon of freedom."