{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.peters.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/peters-and-stabenow-bills-to-name-post-offices-after-distinguished-michiganders-heads-to-president-to-be-signed-into-law", "Peters & Stabenow Bills to Name Post Offices After Distinguished Michiganders Heads to President to be Signed into Law", "2024-09-26", "2024", "2024-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "MI", "Gary C. Peters", "P000595", "www.peters.senate.gov", "garypeters", "https://www.peters.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 Three bills authored by U.S. Senators Gary Peters (MI), Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Debbie Stabenow (MI) to name U.S. Postal Service facilities after distinguished Michiganders have passed the House. The bills now head to the President to be signed into law.\n\nOne bill would designate the post office located at 90 McCamly Street South in Battle Creek, Michigan as the \u201cSojourner Truth Post Office.\u201d Sojourner Truth was an African American woman, born enslaved in 1797. She became one of our nation\u2019s most preeminent abolitionists and women\u2019s suffragists, advocating throughout the nation and later settling in Michigan. Another bill would designate the post office located at 2075 West Stadium Boulevard in Ann Arbor, Michigan as the \u201cRobert Hayden Post Office.\u201d Robert Hayden was the first African American national Poet Laureate, the first Black faculty member at the University of Michigan\u2019s English department, and an Ann Arbor resident. The final bill would designate the post office located at 155 South Main Street in Mount Clemens, Michigan, as the \u201cLieutenant Colonel Alexander Jefferson Post Office.\u201d Jefferson was a member of the famous Tuskegee Airmen of the U.S. Army Air Forces with the 332nd Fighter Group during World War II, a U.S. Postal Service letter carrier, and an educator with the Detroit Public Schools.\n\n\u201cWe owe these three courageous Americans a debt of gratitude for their bravery and sacrifices. Naming these post offices in their communities is just one small, daily reminder of the legacies they leave behind in Michigan and our nation,\u201d said Senator Peters. \u201cMay the lives of these Michiganders be remembered for many generations to come.\u201d\n\n\u201cAs our nation\u2019s first African American Poet Laureate, Robert Hayden made an incredible impact on our country, providing extraordinary contributions to American history, culture, and education. Serving as a Tuskegee Airman in World War II and later as a Detroit-area educator, Lt. Col. Alexander Jefferson was a role model and mentor who inspired others to serve and pursue their dreams. Sojourner Truth escaped slavery and went on to help African Americans transition into a free life after the Civil War, dedicating her life to women\u2019s rights, racial equality and social justice. Naming these post offices after these three extraordinary Michiganders is a fitting tribute to their incredible lives,\u201d said Senator Stabenow.\n\nSojourner Truth was born into slavery as Isabella Baumfree in 1797 in Ulster County, New York. She escaped slavery in 1827 and took her new name \u2013 Sojourner Truth \u2013 in 1843 before embarking on a path to preach for emancipation. After meeting Elizabeth Cady Stanton in 1850, Truth began to passionately advocate for women\u2019s rights. Throughout her life, Truth fought bravely against racial injustices and spoke up for women\u2019s suffrage. In 1851, Truth gave her famous \u201cAin\u2019t I a Woman?\u201d speech to criticize race and gender discrimination at a convention in Akron, Ohio. In 1857, Truth moved to Harmonia, a former utopian community that was later incorporated into Battle Creek, Michigan. She spent the rest of her life advocating in various spheres and died in 1883 at the age of 86.\n\nRobert Hayden was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1913. Hayden attended Detroit City College (now Wayne State University) and went on to earn a Master of Arts degree at the University of Michigan. Hayden married Erma Inez Morris in 1940 and they moved to Ann Arbor in 1941. Hayden published nine collections of poetry during his lifetime, as well as essays and other works of literature, with much of his work touching on the Black American experience as part of the greater human experience. Hayden also taught at Fisk University in Tennessee. He returned to teach at the University of Michigan in 1969, becoming the first Black faculty member in the university\u2019s English department. Hayden achieved national and international recognition for his poetry. In 1976, he became the first African American to be appointed Consultant in Poetry by the Library of Congress \u2013 a role that is now known as Poet Laureate. Hayden passed away in Ann Arbor in 1980.\n\nAlexander Jefferson was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1921. Jefferson completed combat training at Selfridge Field in Mount Clemens and pilot training at the Tuskegee Army Airfield. He served in the military during World War II. During his time with the Tuskegee Airmen, Jefferson was shot down in France and captured by Nazi ground troops. He was a prisoner of war in German-occupied Poland before he was freed by General George Patton\u2019s U.S. Third Army. Jefferson returned to Michigan, where he became a U.S. Postal Service letter carrier, earned a teaching certificate, and obtained a master\u2019s degree in education from Wayne State University. He was discharged from active duty in 1947 and retired from the Reserves in 1969 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Jefferson taught elementary school science in Detroit, was appointed assistant principal, and retired in 1979 after 31 years of service to Detroit Public Schools. In 2016, Senator Peters helped honor Jefferson at a ceremony for France\u2019s Knight of the Legion of Honor Medal. This award is the highest honor France bestows on people who have carried out actions of great value to their nation. In 2016, Senator Stabenow also awarded Jefferson the Bronze Star Medal for his heroic service and meritorious achievements as a Tuskegee Airman and POW during World War II at the 61st Annual Detroit NAACP Freedom Fund Dinner.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:43:57Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.peters.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/peters-and-stabenow-bills-to-name-post-offices-after-distinguished-michiganders-heads-to-president-to-be-signed-into-law"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.413959078490734, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}