Senate adopts Harriet Tubman Day resolution and marks 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday

The New York State Senate on March 9 adopted two commemorative resolutions: one recognizing Harriet Tubman Day and another marking the anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma.

Senator May introduced a resolution recognizing March 10 as Harriet Tubman Day, recounting Tubman’s life in Auburn, her role on the Underground Railroad and her Civil War service. "On this Harriet Tubman day, in this Women's History Month, I am grateful to the Senate for recognizing the life and legacy of this extraordinary New Yorker," May said before the chamber recorded the vote to adopt the resolution.

Later, the Senate considered a resolution commemorating the 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. Senator Gonzalez reviewed the events of March 7, 1965, on the Edmund Pettus Bridge and linked the anniversary to contemporary concerns about voting access, citing federal and state debates over voter ID, polling-place closures and recent New York reforms such as the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act enacted by the Legislature. Gonzalez warned the chamber that "we must keep organizing, we must keep resisting efforts to undermine the Voting Rights Act of 1965." The Senate adopted that resolution as well.

Both measures passed by voice vote; senators framed the resolutions as reminders of historical struggles and as calls to continue protecting voting rights and civic participation.