117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 450 

AN ACT 

To award posthumously the Congressional Gold Medal to 

Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
2 

†S 450 ES

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Emmett Till and 

3 Mamie Till-Mobley Congressional Gold Medal Act of 

4 2021’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

6 Congress finds the following: 

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

8 subsequent bravery and boldness of his mother, 

9 Mamie Till-Mobley, became a catalyst for the civil 

10 rights movement. 

11 (2) On August 28, 1955, 14-year-old Emmett 

12 Till was kidnapped, beaten, and shot in Money, Mis13 sissippi, where he had traveled from Chicago to stay 

14 with his great uncle, Moses Wright. 

15 (3) The corpse of Emmett Till was discovered 

16 3 days later in the Tallahatchie River and his mur17 derers were acquitted despite Moses Wright pro18 viding an eyewitness testimony that the men on trial 

19 kidnapped Emmett Till. 

20 (4) Mamie Till-Mobley, the mother of Emmett 

21 Till, demonstrated her love for her son and her cour22 age and strength in suffering in the days that fol23 lowed as she brought the body of Emmett Till back 

24 to Chicago for burial and demanded an open casket 

25 funeral, which drew more than 50,000 attendees. 
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1 (5) Mamie Till-Mobley further allowed a photo2 graph to be taken of Emmett Till in his casket, 

3 which was shown throughout the world. 

4 (6) The original casket of Emmett Till stands 

5 on display at the National Museum of African Amer6 ican History and Culture as an enduring reminder 

7 of the racial violence that is a part of the history of 

8 the United States that the people of the United 

9 States must confront. 

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

11 the midst of evil, injustice, and grief became a cata12 lyst for the civil rights movement and continued in 

13 the years to come as she worked for justice and hon14 ored the legacy of Emmett Till. 

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

16 Emmett Till Players, which was a significant na17 tional cultural contribution as teenagers traveled 

18 throughout the country presenting Martin Luther 

19 King Jr. speeches in the name of Emmett Till. 

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

21 co-founder of the Emmett Till Justice Campaign, 

22 which had the dual mission of reopening the murder 

23 of Emmett Till for a reinvestigation and a passage 

24 into law of Federal legislation to ensure that other 
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1 racially motivated murders during the civil rights era 

2 were investigated and, when possible, prosecuted. 

3 (10) The efforts of the Emmett Till Justice 

4 Campaign led to the successful joint investigation by 

5 the State of Mississippi, the Federal Bureau of In6 vestigation, and the Department of Justice in 2004, 

7 the passage of the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil 

8 Rights Crime Act of 2007 (Public Law 110–344; 

9 122 Stat. 3934), signed into law by President 

10 George W. Bush, and the Emmett Till Unsolved 

11 Civil Rights Crimes Reauthorization Act of 2016 

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

13 law by President Barack Obama. 

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

15 legacy of Emmett Till and the incredible suffering 

16 and equally incredible courage, resilience, and efforts 

17 of Mamie Till-Mobley that led to the civil rights 

18 movement that began in the 1950s. 

19 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

20 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

21 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem22 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

23 for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of Congress, 

24 of a gold medal of appropriate design in commemoration 

25 of Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley. 
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1 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For purposes of the 

2 presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 

3 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec4 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 

5 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec6 retary. The design shall bear an image of, and inscriptions 

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

8 (c) AWARD OF MEDAL.— 

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

10 medal referred to in subsection (a), the gold medal 

11 shall be given to the National Museum of African 

12 American History and Culture, where it shall be dis13 played as appropriate. 

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

15 Congress that the National Museum of African 

16 American History and Culture should make the gold 

17 medal received under paragraph (1) available for 

18 display elsewhere, particularly at other locations and 

19 events associated with Emmett Till and Mamie Till20 Mobley. 

21 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

22 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

23 bronze of the gold medal struck under section 3, at a price 

24 sufficient to cover the costs of the medals, including labor, 

25 materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 
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1 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

2 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—Medals struck under this 

3 Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 

4 31, United States Code. 

5 (b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section 

6 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 

7 under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items. 

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

9 SALE. 

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

11 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

12 Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be nec13 essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck under 

14 this Act. 

15 (b) PROCEEDS OF SALES.—Amounts received from 

16 the sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under sec17 tion 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Pub18 lic Enterprise Fund. 

Passed the Senate January 10, 2022. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 450 

AN ACT 

Medal to Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley. 

To award posthumously the Congressional Gold