S. 450 

One Hundred Seventeenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and twenty two 

An Act 

To award posthumously the Congressional Gold Medal to Emmett Till and Mamie 

Till-Mobley. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Emmett Till and Mamie TillMobley Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2021’’. 

SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

Congress finds the following: 

(1) The brutal lynching of Emmett Till and the subsequent 

bravery and boldness of his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, became 

a catalyst for the civil rights movement. 

(2) On August 28, 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till was kidnapped, beaten, and shot in Money, Mississippi, where he had 

traveled from Chicago to stay with his great uncle, Moses 

Wright. 

(3) The corpse of Emmett Till was discovered 3 days later 

in the Tallahatchie River and his murderers were acquitted 

despite Moses Wright providing an eyewitness testimony that 

the men on trial kidnapped Emmett Till. 

(4) Mamie Till-Mobley, the mother of Emmett Till, demonstrated her love for her son and her courage and strength 

in suffering in the days that followed as she brought the body 

of Emmett Till back to Chicago for burial and demanded an 

open casket funeral, which drew more than 50,000 attendees. 

(5) Mamie Till-Mobley further allowed a photograph to 

be taken of Emmett Till in his casket, which was shown 

throughout the world. 

(6) The original casket of Emmett Till stands on display 

at the National Museum of African American History and Culture as an enduring reminder of the racial violence that is 

a part of the history of the United States that the people 

of the United States must confront. 

(7) The heroic actions of Mamie Till-Mobley in the midst 

of evil, injustice, and grief became a catalyst for the civil 

rights movement and continued in the years to come as she 

worked for justice and honored the legacy of Emmett Till. 

(8) Mamie Till-Mobley went on to create the Emmett Till 

Players, which was a significant national cultural contribution 

as teenagers traveled throughout the country presenting Martin 

Luther King Jr. speeches in the name of Emmett Till. 
S. 450—2 

(9) Mamie Till-Mobley also served as chair and co-founder 

of the Emmett Till Justice Campaign, which had the dual 

mission of reopening the murder of Emmett Till for a reinvestigation and a passage into law of Federal legislation to ensure 

that other racially motivated murders during the civil rights 

era were investigated and, when possible, prosecuted. 

(10) The efforts of the Emmett Till Justice Campaign led 

to the successful joint investigation by the State of Mississippi, 

the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Department of 

Justice in 2004, the passage of the Emmett Till Unsolved 

Civil Rights Crime Act of 2007 (Public Law 110–344; 122 Stat. 

3934), signed into law by President George W. Bush, and the 

Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Reauthorization Act 

of 2016 (Public Law 114–325; 130 Stat. 1965), signed into 

law by President Barack Obama. 

(11) The people of the United States honor the legacy 

of Emmett Till and the incredible suffering and equally incredible courage, resilience, and efforts of Mamie Till-Mobley that 

led to the civil rights movement that began in the 1950s. 

SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

(a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of the House 

of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate 

shall make appropriate arrangements for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design 

in commemoration of Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley. 

(b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For purposes of the presentation 

referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (referred 

to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall strike a gold medal with 

suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by 

the Secretary. The design shall bear an image of, and inscriptions 

of the name of, ‘‘Emmett Till’’ and ‘‘Mamie Till-Mobley’’. 

(c) AWARD OF MEDAL.— 

(1) IN GENERAL.—After the award of the gold medal referred 

to in subsection (a), the gold medal shall be given to the 

National Museum of African American History and Culture, 

where it shall be displayed as appropriate. 

(2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress that 

the National Museum of African American History and Culture 

should make the gold medal received under paragraph (1) available for display elsewhere, particularly at other locations and 

events associated with Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley. 

SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the 

gold medal struck under section 3, at a price sufficient to cover 

the costs of the medals, including labor, materials, dies, use of 

machinery, and overhead expenses. 

SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

(a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—Medals struck under this Act are 

national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United 

States Code. 

(b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section 5134 of title 

31, United States Code, all medals struck under this Act shall 

be considered to be numismatic items. 
S. 450—3 

SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF SALE. 

(a) AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS.—There is authorized 

to be charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise 

Fund such amounts as may be necessary to pay for the costs 

of the medals struck under this Act. 

(b) PROCEEDS OF SALES.—Amounts received from the sale of 

duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.