[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 7 (Tuesday, January 11, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H39-H42]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            PAYING TRIBUTE TO AMERICA'S ABOLITIONIST HEROES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 4, 2021, the Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from New York 
(Ms. Tenney) for 30 minutes.


                             General Leave

  Ms. TENNEY. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and 
submit extraneous materials.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. TENNEY. Madam Speaker, today is a very special day. I want to 
thank my good friend and colleague, Congressman Burgess Owens. Burgess 
Owens and I are leading the charge here in Congress to tell the 
courageous stories of America's abolitionist heroes, particularly those 
from upstate New York.
  It was an honor for me to welcome Burgess recently, in October, to 
upstate New York to tour our region's sacred abolitionist sites, 
including the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark and the 
National Abolition Hall of Fame in Peterboro, as well as the home of 
abolitionist, suffragette, and true American heroine Harriet Tubman.
  Opposite me, there is a photo here of Gerrit Smith. This is a picture 
of Gerrit Smith from Peterboro. Peterboro is named after his father, a 
guy named Peter Smith, and I just wanted to tell a little bit about how 
this all happened in Peterboro, New York. I am sure a lot of people 
don't know the history.
  It all kind of started with an abolitionist named Reverend Henry 
Highland, who told his good friend Frederick Douglass, when describing 
Peterboro, New York--which, by the way, I am honored to represent here 
in Congress. Many people don't even realize this little hamlet of 
Peterboro, up in bucolic Madison County, which happens to be my 
mother's home county, played a vitally important role during the 
abolitionist movement.
  This was in large part due to one of its most famous residents, 
Gerrit Smith. As I said, the little hamlet of Peterboro was named in 
honor of his father.
  Mr. Smith was a successful businessman and a committed 
philanthropist. He previously served this body, actually, as a 
Representative from New York's 22nd Congressional District, the same 
district that I currently represent. He was also a three-time 
Presidential candidate.
  Gerrit Smith always opposed slavery, but he firmly joined the 
political cause of abolitionism in 1835. He was at a meeting of about 
600 abolitionists in a church in the nearby city of Utica, which is in 
Oneida County. Upon learning of the meeting, a violent mob stormed the 
church and disrupted the proceedings, forcing the abolitionists to 
flee.
  Smith realized then that he could put his wealth and property to use. 
He invited the abolitionists to his home in Peterboro. A year later, he 
was elected president of the New York State Anti-Slavery Society. The 
rest, as they say, is history. We are going to tell you a little bit 
about that today with Congressman Owens.
  In Smith's view, slavery was completely incompatible not only with 
our founding documents but also with the natural laws of God. We were 
born free, and no law or institution could take away another man or 
woman's innate right to freedom.
  From 1835 until his death in 1874, Gerrit Smith dedicated his whole 
heart to the abolitionist cause, and Peterboro was his base of 
operation. Giants like Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, William 
Lloyd Garrison, Elizabeth Cady--eventually Stanton, whose husband, 
Henry Stanton, was actually a cousin of Smith's--spent considerable 
time there, strategizing and mobilizing support.
  Gerrit Smith played a key role in funding abolitionist causes across 
our country. Smith maintained a lifelong friendship with Frederick 
Douglass and provided funding and other support to The North Star, 
which was Douglass' abolitionist newspaper. In today's terms, Gerrit 
Smith would be considered a billionaire, and he gave what then was $100 
a month to Frederick Douglass' cause to pay for his newspaper, which in 
today's dollars, with inflation, would be about $7,000 per month to 
make sure that this newspaper was able to continue to thrive and 
flourish and inform people.
  In a letter from Douglass following Smith's death in 1874, Douglas 
credited Smith's generous support as the financial engine that kept his 
abolitionist movement going.
  Smith's estate in Peterboro was also a stop along the Underground 
Railroad. As enslaved people made their way north to Canada, Smith 
would offer them shelter, food, and support. Exact numbers are hard to 
come by, but it is safe to say Smith bought and helped secure the 
freedom of hundreds of enslaved people from around the country.

  This is why Reverend Henry Highland said: ``There are yet two places 
where slaveholders cannot come, Heaven and Peterboro.'' Peterboro was 
synonymous with freedom.
  Just a short drive from Gerrit Smith's estate in upstate New York is 
the home of another titan of the abolitionist movement, the great 
Harriet Tubman. Like Congressman Owens, this was my first visit to 
Harriet Tubman's home in Auburn. I want to show you a little picture of 
mighty Harriet Tubman, who is an amazing figure. I may have to go back 
to some of these. This is a great photo of Congressman Owens and me at 
Harriet Tubman's

[[Page H40]]

home in Auburn, New York, where we were able to tour and see where she 
lived and where she operated her Underground Railroad, right in our own 
communities.
  This was an amazing experience. I was in awe of Harriet Tubman, her 
accomplishments, and her tenacity. She had every reason to be in 
despair. She was strong; she was compassionate; she was generous; and 
she was only 4'11``, which is amazing.
  The home we visited was where Harriet spent her later years, after 
she escaped slavery in Maryland, served as a conductor of the 
Underground Railroad, and then a scout, spy, and nurse for the Union 
Army during the Civil War.
  Harriet lived for almost a century. She was 91, almost 92 years old. 
She was an indomitable force. She was the first Black woman to lead a 
combat assault, organizing about 150 Black Union troops on a raid in 
South Carolina. She later freed 750 enslaved people as part of that 
operation.
  She suffered from narcolepsy her adult life after being hit by a 
metal weight when she was a teenager. Despite this, she persevered. She 
brought at least 70 slaves to freedom on the Underground Railroad and 
never lost a single passenger.

                              {time}  1600

  At her core, Harriet was a woman of compassion. In her later years 
she helped so many who came through her home in Auburn providing them 
shelter, medical attention, and love.
  Despite the obstacles she faced, Harriet Tubman never gave up, nor 
was she ever consumed by anger or cynicism. She led with integrity and 
was incredibly resilient, and she is certainly an amazing role model 
for all of us.
  It was important to tell Gerrit Smith's story and Harriet Tubman's 
stories, and now more than ever we must understand our shared history 
and learn from those who came before us.
  Our great Nation was founded on the promise that all men are created 
equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable 
rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. No 
other republic before ours guaranteed such rights to its citizens. In 
fact, before America, there were no citizens at all, only subjects.
  Yet in the earliest days of our Nation's founding, it is clear we 
failed to live up to our ideals. We failed to end the slave trade or to 
free those who were tied down in bondage. While this grave mistake will 
forever be part of our history, so, too, will be the courageous stories 
of Gerrit Smith, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and so many more 
Americans of different races, creeds, and religions who fought for a 
better America.
  Gerrit Smith and Harriet Tubman personify the spirit of America, and 
their stories should be a lesson to all of us. Their tenacity, their 
relentlessness, and their pursuit of ideals are everything that we 
strive to be as Americans.
  As Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas recently said, While we as 
Americans have failed to live up to the ideals of the Declaration of 
Independence time and again, there is no time in our history when those 
ideals themselves have actually failed us. The Declaration and its 
principles endure because they articulate a fundamental truth that all 
people are born free and equal.
  Like Gerrit and Harriet did as citizens of this country we must 
commit ourselves to the great American project of making sure we live 
up to our ideals. These ideals are sacred, and the abolitionists who 
gathered in Peterboro changed the world and they were the authors of 
our future, and we must thank God that we have the freedom to fight 
every day to strengthen our institutions and make this a much more 
perfect Union.
  Madam Speaker, I want to end by thanking those who made our recent 
visit possible and welcomed Congressman Owens and I on that cold day in 
October before I yield to him, but I just want to recognize these great 
people who spend and devote their life to this history.
  First is Norman Dann. He was one of our tour guides at Peterboro and 
the author of ``Practical Dreamer, Gerrit Smith and the Crusade for 
Social Reform.''
  Alden Max Smith, another one of our guides, as well as the cabinet 
member of the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum, which is also 
in Peterboro.
  Dorothy Willsey, another fantastic tour guide and president of the 
National Abolition Hall of Fame.
  John Becker, chairman of the Madison County Board of Supervisors for 
meeting us there and also for making this all possible.
  Cliff Moses, vice-chairman of the Madison County Board of 
Supervisors.
  Mary Cavanaugh, city of Oneida, wards 1, 2, 3 supervisor, who also 
greeted us there and toured with us.
  Yvonne Nirelli, the former supervisor of the Town of Lincoln, who 
also greeted us and toured with us.
  Matt Roberts, city of Oneida supervisor for wards 1, 2, and 3, 
another person who came to tour with us and was fascinated again by 
this amazing little hamlet in upstate New York.
  Matthew Urtz, our Madison County historian, who was completely 
intrigued and so excited to welcome the great Burgess Owens, who is 
going to be talking a little more on this today.
  Karol Kucinski, trustee at the National Abolition Hall of Fame and 
Museum.
  And Nell Ziegler, the President of the Smithfield Community 
Association and owner and manager of the Gerrit Smith Estate National 
Historic Landmark.
  For more information about the Gerrit Smith Estate and the beautiful 
hamlet of Peterboro, I encourage you to visit www.gerritsmith.org.
 I also want to thank Karen V. Hill, president and CEO of the Harriet 
Tubman Home, as well as our fantastic tour guides who shared their 
knowledge and passion with us again on this beautiful cold day.
  There it is again, this photo of our tour of Peterboro. It was 
wonderful to have Burgess Owens there, a really special moment for all 
of us.
  Madam Speaker, it is with great honor that I yield to the gentleman 
from Utah (Mr. Owens), who I think this was a great experience for him. 
I think he never realized what existed up in upstate New York. And that 
is why we want everyone in the world to know just how important it is 
that we learn our history and we celebrate everyone who had a path and 
who had courage and who had the tenacity and the boldness to stand up 
for what was right against the grain at a very difficult time in our 
country. I have one little thing for you, too. I have a special Harriet 
Tubman pad for you I grabbed.
  Mr. OWENS. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
  A couple months ago, as Claudia mentioned, my good friend from New 
York's 22nd District invited me for a tour of two of upstate New York's 
historic sites impacted by Harriet Tubman. Harriet has been one of my 
heroes since I was 12 years old in the seventh grade.
  This was my first visit to Peterboro. What a remarkable experience it 
was to see firsthand the property of my longtime hero, someone who once 
was the property of someone else. I encourage everyone who visits the 
northeast to make this stop as part of your trip.
  I thank my good friend for her invitation and for sharing this time 
as we discuss courageous Americans who understood the blessing of 
freedom.
  I rise today to honor of the extraordinary life and unmatched legacy 
of Harriet Tubman, one of the most notable abolitionists in American 
history.
  As many of you know, Harriet escaped the horrors of slavery and 
through her work during the abolitionary movement overcame unspeakable 
odds to secure the dreams of future generations.
  My great-great-grandfather Silas Burgess came to America shackled in 
the belly of a slave ship. He was sold on an auction block in 
Charleston, South Carolina, to the Burgess Plantation. In his youth, he 
escaped to west Texas along the southwestern route of the Underground 
Railroad. He later became a successful entrepreneur, starting the first 
Black church, the first Black elementary school in his town and 
purchased 102 acres of farmland that he paid off in 2 years.
  There are thousands upon thousands of untold stories of slavery to 
success all due to courageous conductors like Harriet Tubman. The true 
miracle of

[[Page H41]]

the Underground Railroad though is something that most of us miss. It 
was total trust in faith between conductors like Harriet and the 
facilitators of the Freedom Railroad. Whether it was south to north or 
south to west, as with my great-great grandfather, White, Christian 
Americans took the great risk of reprisal from the prevalent KKK in 
their community as they opened up their barns, cellars, and food 
pantries to create a safe and secret route to freedom for over 100,000 
slaves prior to the Civil War.
  I have been inspired by the story of the American heart since I was 
12 years old, growing up in my proud southern, segregated Black 
community.
  Born enslaved in Maryland in 1822, Harriet spent her childhood as a 
nursemaid, field hand, cook, and wood cutter.
  When Harriet was 12, it was reported that she refused to help an 
overseer punish another slave resulting in a severe injury when a 2-
pound iron weight was thrown at her head. This caused her to suffer 
seizures and bouts of uncontrollable narcolepsy throughout her life.
  Harriet married John Tubman, a free Black man, in 1844.
  After rumors spread that Harriet was about to be sold, she fled to 
Philadelphia, then to Baltimore after returning to rescue her parents, 
sister, and two children.
  Over the next decade, Harriet led dozens of these trips rescuing more 
than 70 slaves along the Underground Railroad. As the railroad's most 
famous conductor, it has been said that she never lost a passenger. In 
1858, Harriet bought a small farm in upstate New York where her family 
resided, later to be named the Harriet Tubman Home.
  During the Civil War, Harriet served Union forces as a scout, spy, 
nurse, cook, recruiter, and laundress. Under the command of Union 
Colonel James Montgomery, Harriet became the first woman to lead a 
major military operation in the United States when she and 150 African-
American Union soldiers rescued about 700 slaves in the Combahee Ferry 
Raid.
  After the Civil War, Harriet opened her home to serve orphans and the 
elderly. She joined Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony in 
their quest for women's suffrage. She believed in equal rights for 
everyone and lived a life of courage, serving others until around the 
age of 92.
  I often say that the Black American history is so rich because of the 
heroes who have come before us, heroes like Harriet Tubman, Gerrit 
Smith, Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Lucretia Mott, and so many 
others who recognized injustice, strove to help their brothers and 
sisters, and dreamed of a world outside the chains of slavery. Each 
focused on building pockets of freedom that would soon spread 
throughout our country. It was a movement that has inspired untold 
millions around the world.
  Indeed, we all stand on the shoulders of these great people who came 
before us, but the Black community, particularly my proud race, holds 
our ancestors especially dear. They fought hate, overcame the horrors 
of slavery, and on their backs built a world in which we can own and 
build our homes and businesses, get an education, worship our faith, 
vote, run for office, and stand on the floor of the House of 
Representatives, honoring the legacy of one of the most notable 
abolitionists in American history.
  What a difference men and women pursuing their dreams in a free 
country can make. It is our responsibility to never forget or allow 
history to be erased as to what we the people have done together over 
our 240-year history. This as we continue to resolve to grow together 
as a more perfect Union.
  I have just a few thoughts I want to leave you with before I 
conclude. And that is a little bit of the highlights of the good hearts 
of our American people. It is our Nation's mission statement that ends 
with the idea that we can have not only second chances but as an 
imperfect Union that we can become more of a perfect Union.

  I start with my great-great grandfather Silas Burgess. To show what a 
more perfect Union looks like is the fact that he came to this country 
in the belly of a slave ship, lived through the evils of a plantation, 
and yet escaped by going west because of good Americans, German and 
Mexican Americans who opened up their homes and their barns and their 
fields to give him an opportunity to move forward and keep his hopes 
alive. And even though he saw the evils of being a slave, he saw the 
good hearts of these good Americans that led him to become a Christian, 
led him to be able to forgive, to build and serve instead of destroy.
  I see the form of a more perfect Union with my dad in the fifties who 
came back from World War II and could not get his postgraduate degree 
in Texas because of Jim Crow laws, was able to go to Ohio State because 
some White administrator, who I will never know who that was, said yes 
and gave my father an opportunity to get his Ph.D., and again, to help 
form a more perfect Union.
  I experienced this myself in the sixties when going to the University 
of Miami I was the fourth Black student to get a scholarship in the 
most southern school down south. At that time there was a commitment by 
the President, Henry Stanford, to end segregation and it allowed me to 
move forward based on my character versus the color of my skin.
  I saw a more perfect Union in the seventies when a Jewish owner of 
the Oakland Raiders, Al Davis, committed to ending the Jim Crow 
barriers of the NFL and put meritocracy above color, and we had the 
first Hispanic quarterback, the first Hispanic coach, the first Black 
coach, the first female CEO because meritocracy has no color.
  What we have seen in our country and we have to continue to remember 
is the power of we the people, the power of the team. We think about 
Harriet Tubman as a conductor, Frederick Douglass, Booker T. 
Washington, Martin Luther King, all conductors. We have many conductors 
today throughout our country, and at the same time we have many more 
people who built our freedom highways and railroads.
  We the people roll up our sleeves and give hope to others. We need to 
rediscover our history, remember the havens of Peterboro, places where 
Americans across this country, regardless of skin color, came together 
to allow others to have an opportunity to see what freedom is all 
about.
  We can see those experiences in Booker T. Washington in Tuskegee in 
the early 1900s. We can see that experiments succeeded in Tulsa, 
Oklahoma, in the early 1900s of Black Wall Street. And we can see it 
today throughout our country. We see it here in this House.
  What we must remember is our past should give us hope for a much 
greater future, and we also must remember to sprint away from anyone 
who leaves us hopeless.
  Ms. TENNEY. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for those great 
words and for bringing up so many people. And, again, our community was 
so honored to have you there.

                              {time}  1615

  To have you at Peterboro and to have more people discover and have 
this audience around our country and the world watching know that there 
are great people out there that did care about the cause of freedom. 
You brought up Martin Luther King, and I always remember studying him 
when I was a college student, and just discovering his great 
relationship with Gandhi and talking about peace and peaceful protests 
and how important it was. And how that is a founding principle of our 
country.
  Just to have you there in Peterboro meant so much. Everyone in 
Peterboro was so excited to have you there. People are recognizing that 
there are people that are not on everyone's radar, on the national 
radar, but there are people that have done great things, that are doing 
it quietly but they are doing it for a great cause.
  And those little acts, like you just mentioned, the administrator 
that let your dad into Ohio State, you will never know who it was, but 
that person enabled us to have the great Burgess Owens here today.
  Mr. OWENS. Madam Speaker, if I can add to that, because I think the 
most important thing about our Nation is to remember our history, to 
really understand that we have within our hearts, because of our 
foundation, this desire to want others to succeed. We want to feel good 
that we have been part of something that makes a difference. And it is 
not just the 2000s, it is actually throughout our country's history.

[[Page H42]]

And to know what happened, again, from my great grandfather, throughout 
our history, again we can find those moments in which we have helped 
each other. We have all given some credence, something given back to 
this country, the more we know about that, the more we will feel better 
about who we are today and our vision for the future. So we have to 
make sure we keep that in mind, for sure.
  Ms. TENNEY. I agree. I think we have to focus on the people who are 
helping us, not the people who aren't. And I think that this is what we 
wanted to do today, and we are grateful to you to be able to focus on 
people who actually help, not the people tearing us down, the people 
trying to bring our country to its knees, but people trying to make us 
rise up and be better, and be a better America than we are today. And 
that is our striving for our future. That is what we want our children 
to be. We want America to be better for our children and our 
grandchildren.
  And I think by recognizing that there were great people in our past 
who have done amazing things who never got the recognition, but often 
those people go unnoticed. And I think that is why it meant so much for 
us to have you there.
  Madam Speaker, I urge anyone if you want to come up on a beautiful 
fall day, or you can come in the warm summer days, it is a little 
warmer--it is a little snowy right now--to come to visit Peterboro and 
meet with some our great docents, who I mentioned in my remarks, who 
are studying and uncovering documents and trying to show the true 
history so we understand it and so we can learn from it.
  Even though I had been to Peterboro when I was younger--I knew about 
it when I was a kid because it was my mom's home county--I never knew 
the depth of it, or I learned so much more just by that experience. And 
I am sure if I go again to the Abolitionist Hall of Fame, I think I 
would learn even more there. But just learning about Harriet Tubman and 
going to her house and being in the same room where you know that she 
was providing so much aid and comfort and love to people she didn't 
know but people she believed in and knew needed to understand and feel 
that taste of freedom, just standing there with you and the people that 
worked there and how much it meant to them, they conveyed that sort of, 
you know, that wonderful feeling to us as well.
  So I feel like I just would love to have everyone come and have that 
experience. And anywhere else in the country, we would love to 
encourage our colleagues to come out and tell us about great 
experiences and great Americans that are out there that might not get 
the recognition. They might not be getting the clicks on twitter or 
Facebook or social media, but there are people out there doing great 
works and uncovering great heroism.
  Mr. OWENS. If I could add a little about Peterboro. This was, again, 
a new experience for me. And what that particular place represented for 
so many Americans, particularly Black Americans, was a place of hope. 
They knew that once they got to Peterboro, they were literally very 
close to Canada, which was their, really, freedom. That was it.
  They could then know they weren't going to be hiding and going 
through all the stealth and knowing they could be recaptured. So that 
hope is a big factor we talked about. And I hope that those that are 
listening to our conversation know that actually our country is built 
on that.
  What we have done so far today is talked about what our country is 
capable of because we have done it in the past. And the more hope we 
can give to our fellow Americans that this is a country, the best in 
the history of mankind, that we can serve each other, that we can 
build, not destroy, and that we can become a much better country 
because that is actually within our mission statement, to be a more 
perfect union. And we can do that, and that is what we have done, 
again, very successfully.
  I am just very excited to have this opportunity to spend this time 
with you. It was a great opportunity. I can't wait to get back. If I 
can say, for anyone who is listening, please check this place out. 
Harriet Tubman, as always, for many of us we know she is a hero, go to 
her place to see her property--a person that once was the property of 
someone else--her property and what she did and what she gave away to 
so many because she just loved the process of service. It was a great 
experience, and I can't wait to get back and check it out again.
  Ms. TENNEY. We can't wait to have you back.
  And also, I just think about that last moment when we were in Gerrit 
Smith Estate, in the barn. We went back in the barn and we saw these 
conditions where horses and mules were put, and that they actually had 
to hide people in there.

  We came out of the barn, and there was this gleaming sunlight on us 
on that cold day. And I looked above, and there was a sign that said 
``Heaven in Peterboro,'' the two places where the slaves were safe and 
symbolized freedom.
  So it was just an honor for me to represent the community. And then 
to have you standing there with that gleaming sunlight on us and 
knowing that so many people in our past, that was their gateway to 
freedom and gateway to finding a new life, I think it was a tremendous 
experience. We hope maybe you can come again and we can invite our 
colleagues and others to come and experience Peterboro.
  Mr. OWENS. I would love to.
  Ms. TENNEY. And Harriet Tubman's home, of course.
  Mr. OWENS. If I could just leave one message as my last final word to 
those who are watching. This country is a place that has thrived 
because people can envision themselves doing much, much better. And we 
do that when we, the people, get together and we really put our hearts 
and soul into making sure our next generation is a much better place 
than our time is, and we do that better than any other country.
  I am thankful for the opportunity to visit the home of my hero since 
I was 12 years old, and that was kind of exciting to hear that you were 
that close to the area and to have the invitation to come up and see 
it. So thank you so much for that.
  Ms. TENNEY. Yes, thank you. And what a great discovery it was, just 
sitting on the floor of the House Chamber, Burgess and I. And I said, 
you have never been to Peterboro? How about this?
  Who would think that I would be hosting a famous person like Burgess 
Owens, a hero in our communities, in my own little community, and that 
we would have that common bond with Harriet Tubman.
  But we are grateful. We are just grateful for you and your service 
and everyone here. And I just hope that my colleagues and anyone who 
wants to join Peterboro--again, I hate to do too much of a pitch--but 
go to www.gerritsmith.org. It is an amazing place. It is humble, but it 
is just majestic and the accomplishments that were made in that 
wonderful place.
  Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague, Mr. Burgess, for joining us, and 
thank him for everything he has done, for standing courageously and 
boldly for our communities and for our country, and standing up for our 
Constitution and freedom. Because that is really what is going to unite 
us.
  Let's talk about what unites us, not what divides us. We have a lot 
of great history that can really bring us together in the future. And 
so I thank you.
  Mr. OWENS. Thank you so much. Exactly the same. We have a remarkable 
freshman team. I am so honored to be serving with you at this point. 
Let's keep this thing moving forward, for sure.
  Ms. TENNEY. Thank you so much. The honor is all mine.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________