ME SP0901

Recognizes February 2026 as Black History Month, marking the 100th anniversary of Dr. Carter G. Woodson establishing the observance in 1926

Acknowledges Maine's direct involvement in the slave trade for at least 113 years (1749-1862), with 70 Maine-built vessels known to have transported enslaved people and slaving vessels constructed in at least 26 Maine towns

Documents Maine's economic entanglement with slavery through shipbuilding, merchant trading, banking, insurance, and the coastwise trade supplying West Indies plantations with crops, livestock, fish, ice, and timber for barrel staves

Notes that over 2,000 people of color lived in present-day Maine prior to 1800 and that Havana, Cuba—the hub of the illicit slave trade—was Portland's top trading partner

Encourages all Maine residents to learn about Black history and the experiences that shaped the state and nation