Restoring the promise of freedom: honoring, preserving, and investing in Freedmen's Settlements.

Summary: HRES 173 – Restoring the promise of freedom: honoring, preserving, and investing in Freedmen's Settlements

Overview

HRES 173 is a House Resolution introduced on February 27, 2025 and referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. It is a non-binding measure that expresses the sense of the House regarding Freedmen’s Settlements—historic communities founded by emancipated enslaved people after the Civil War—and outlines national goals for recognizing, documenting, preserving, and investing in these communities. The resolution emphasizes Juneteenth as a continuation of the struggle for racial justice and community resilience.

Purpose and intent

• Affirm that the work for racial justice did not end on June 19, 1865, and remains ongoing.
• Honor and acknowledge the efforts of emancipated African Americans who built and sustained freedmen’s settlements.
• Promote a comprehensive approach to preserving these settlements through documentation, oral histories, and physical commemoration.
• Advocate for targeted funding and investments to preserve sites and to support economic justice for descendants and current residents.
• Call for coordination across federal, state, local, and nonprofit sectors to understand past injustices and to support community-led development.

Key provisions and focus areas

• Documentation and remembrance
  • Support documenting freedmen’s settlements using oral histories and existing records; preserve physical remnants of settlements.
• Funding and investment
  • Encourage designated funding for historic preservation and for economic justice initiatives benefiting residents and descendants.
• Community protection and development
  • Enshrine protections against development, gentrification, and environmental hazards; promote strategic investment, regulatory measures, and community-led economic development, including small business creation, workforce development, and education.
• Coordination and partnership
  • Recognize the need for collaboration among federal and state governments, agencies (including EPA and HUD), nonprofit organizations, schools, and local communities to address past injustices and current needs (e.g., clean water, housing, and infrastructure).
• Living standards and resilience
  • Emphasize fair standards of living in freedmen’s settlements, including sewage, roads, emergency services, climate-resilient infrastructure, and overall health and sustainability.
• Equity and recognition
  • Tie recognition and resources to advancing equity for historically disadvantaged communities affected by racism, environmental and climate injustices, and violence.
• Ongoing support and remembrance
  • Urge continued support from governments and community organizations to preserve the foundational history and legacies of freedmen’s settlements, honoring their contributions and resilience, notably on Juneteenth.

Affected parties

• Descendants and current residents of Freedmen’s Settlements
• Federal agencies (e.g., EPA, HUD) and state/local governments
• Nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, historical preservation groups
• Communities facing development pressure and environmental justice concerns

Procedural and timeline notes

• Introduced: February 27, 2025
• Status: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary
• As a resolution, it expresses intent and guidance rather than establishing new law or automatic funding; any actual programs or appropriations would require separate legislation.

Sponsorship

• Primary sponsor: Sydney Kamlager-Dove
• Cosponsors include: Gwen Moore; LaMonica McIver; Delia C. Ramirez; Joyce Beatty; Hank Johnson; Jill Tokuda; Ayanna Pressley; Frederica Wilson; Robin Kelly; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; Rashida Tlaib; Maxwell Frost; Shontel Brown; Jonathan Jackson; Bonnie Watson Coleman; and others.