HOUSE RESOLUTION PROCLAIMING FEBRUARY 6TH, 2025, TO BE "NEW ENGLAND FREEDMEN'S AID SOCIETY DAY" IN THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

This bill is a commemorative resolution designating February 6, 2025, as "New England Freedmen’s Aid Society Day" in Rhode Island. It recognizes the historical work of the Freedmen’s Aid Society (founded in 1859 by the American Missionary Association), which established over 500 schools in the South to educate formerly enslaved people and their children, significantly improving African American literacy rates by the early 1900s. The resolution directs the Secretary of State to send a certified copy to the Rhode Island NAACP. As a non-binding commemorative measure, it does not create new laws or policies but honors this historical effort. The resolution was passed by the Rhode Island House on February 6, 2025.