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Proposed Harriet Tubman Waterway Act delivered to legislators

December 23, 2019

In an effort to establish the Harriet Tubman Waterway Act, which calls for renaming the Virginia Inside Passage in honor of Harriet Tubman, Don Victor Mooney handed off proposed legislation to the offices of Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Delaware; Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Virginia; and Rep. Andy Harris, R-Maryland, who represent parts of the Delmarva Peninsula.

Tubman was an abolitionist, humanitarian, women's rights advocate, and conductor for the Underground Railroad. Mooney, president of New York-based HR 1242 Resilience Project, said Tubman is a historical icon who embodies the spirit of resilience. 

The Virginia Inside Passage and several bays in Delaware and Maryland were the corridors for freedom along the Eastern Shore of Delmarva. These waters saw countless enslaved Africans take this route to emancipate themselves from the shackles of slavery. Tubman made 13 trips between her Delmarva Peninsula home in Dorchester County, Md., and Philadelphia. She knew the area, mastered the elements and never lost a passenger.

The mouth of this waterway begins at the Chesapeake Bay, which was the entry point for many slave ships arriving from West Africa.

For more information, go to www.hr1242resilience.com.

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