AR HB1780

Creates "Sultana Disaster Remembrance Day" on April 27 each year to commemorate the SS Sultana steamboat explosion that occurred on April 27, 1865, near Memphis, Tennessee

The Sultana was transporting over 2,300 passengers, including over 2,000 recently released Union prisoners of war from Andersonville and Cahaba prisons, when its boiler system exploded, resulting in over 2,000 casualties with more than 1,200 deaths

Recognizes that Crittenden County, Arkansas citizens saved dozens of lives by wading into the flooded Mississippi River to retrieve victims floating downriver

Designates April 27 as a memorial day (not a legal holiday) to be commemorated by a proclamation from the Governor

Acknowledges the U.S. House of Representatives' 2009 recognition of the SS Sultana explosion as the greatest maritime disaster in United States history and references a temporary exhibit and planned permanent Sultana Disaster Museum in Marion, Arkansas