2019 Senate Joint Resolution 27
ENROLLED JOINT RESOLUTION
Relating to: proclaiming November 1 as Electa Quinney Day in Wisconsin.
Whereas, Electa “Wuhwehweeheemeew" Quinney was born in 1802 in Stockbridge, Massachusetts to an influential family which included several Tribal Chiefs in the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans and was educated in some of the best boarding schools in New York and Connecticut; and
Whereas, after Quinney had taught for six years in New York, the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans were forcibly removed from New York, and after negotiating an agreement with the Menominee Indians, Electa Quinney moved with the Stockbridge-Munsee Tribe to Wisconsin; and
Whereas, after arriving in Wisconsin on June 20, 1828, Electa Quinney quickly began teaching in a new one-room schoolhouse open to both Native American and white students in Statesburg, which is now Kaukauna, and frequently taught multiple subjects to class sizes as large as 50 students; and
Whereas, this school was the first in Wisconsin that did not charge an enrollment fee and that allowed students of all backgrounds to receive an education, and at this school Electa Quinney also became Wisconsin's first female teacher; and
Whereas, while Electa Quinney died in 1885 and was buried in Stockbridge, Wisconsin, her role in Native American history, the legacy of our public education system, and the advancement of women's rights have long outlasted her time on earth; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the
senate, the assembly concurring, That the Wisconsin Legislature proclaims November 1, the first day of National Native American Heritage Month, as Electa Quinney Day in Wisconsin and calls upon all citizens, educators, and students to take this opportunity to recognize the impact Electa Quinney had on Wisconsin's early history and how her legacy still shapes Wisconsin today.
