PENNSYLVANIA, June 20 - PRINTER'S NO. 923

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

SENATE RESOLUTION

No.

137

Session of

2023

INTRODUCED BY STREET, SAVAL, SCHWANK, TARTAGLIONE, SANTARSIERO,

HUGHES, BREWSTER, KEARNEY, CAPPELLETTI, FONTANA, HAYWOOD,

DILLON, BROWN, COMITTA, ARGALL, CULVER, KANE AND COSTA,

JUNE 19, 2023

INTRODUCED AND ADOPTED, JUNE 19, 2023

A RESOLUTION

Observing June 19, 2023, as "Juneteenth National Freedom Day" in

Pennsylvania.

WHEREAS, Originating in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865,

when slaves in that state learned that they had been freed,

"Juneteenth National Freedom Day" is the oldest African-American

holiday observance in the United States; and

WHEREAS, "Juneteenth National Freedom Day" commemorates the

survival instinct of Africans who endured a transatlantic

journey, known as the Middle Passage, on slave ships from their

homeland to this country; and

WHEREAS, Approximately 11.5 million Africans survived the

harsh voyage to slave markets in the New World during the late

17th century, and the slave population in the American colonies

grew quickly; and

WHEREAS, "Juneteenth National Freedom Day" further

commemorates the impact of slavery, the abolitionist movement

and African-American emancipation in the United States and has

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17