Descendants of abolitionist Harriet Tubman are proposing to build a learning center in Bridgeport in her name.

The push comes as President Joe Biden speeds up the effort to put Tubman on the $20 bill.

Local leaders came together for a virtual meeting with two members of Tubman's family today to discuss their proposal.

Rita Daniels is a great-great-great niece of the 19th century abolitionist leader and founder of the nonprofit Harriet Tubman Learning Center in Georgia. Daniels was joined by her aunt, 93-year-old Pauline Copes Johnson, who is Tubman's oldest surviving relative.

The women announced plans to build a Harriet Tubman Learning Center in Bridgeport, because the city was a significant stopping point on the Underground Railroad.

Wayne Winston, just named to the nonprofit's board of directors, says with Tubman coming to the $20 bill, it'll be an exciting time for kids in Bridgeport.

"We're looking forward to kids seeing that on the $20 bill, where they see Harriet Tubman and they learn about her in school, that this person in their family is going to be represented here in the city of Bridgeport to try to change their lives," Winston says.

Daniels says plans for the learning center in Bridgeport are in their early stages.

"The naysayers, they really don't understand. Would you rather have a slave owner, master on the $20 bill or would you rather have a person who pulls through from being a slave? And I think that's what they are not looking at," Daniels says.

The nonprofit is accepting donations on their website.