I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7137 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Reverend James Morris Lawson, 

Jr., in recognition of his contributions to the United States through 

the promotion of nonviolence during the Civil Rights movement and 

beyond. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 15, 2018 

Mr. KHANNA (for himself, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Ms. BASS, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Ms. 

CLARKE of New York, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. COHEN, Mr. 

CUMMINGS, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. EVANS, Ms. JAYAPAL, 

Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. 

LOFGREN, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. MOORE, Mr. MOULTON, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 

RYAN of Ohio, Ms. WILSON of Florida, and Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Reverend James 

Morris Lawson, Jr., in recognition of his contributions 

to the United States through the promotion of nonviolence during the Civil Rights movement and beyond. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Reverend James 

3 Lawson, Jr. Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Reverend James Morris Lawson, Jr. (‘‘Rev. 

7 Lawson’’) was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, on 

8 September 22, 1928, to Reverend James Morris 

9 Lawson, Sr. and Philane May Cover. 

10 (2) Rev. Lawson received his local preacher’s li11 cense in 1947, the same year he graduated from 

12 high school. 

13 (3) While attending Baldwin-Wallace College, 

14 Rev. Lawson joined the Fellowship of Reconciliation, 

15 the oldest pacifist organization in the United States 

16 and an advocate of nonviolent resistance to racism, 

17 as well as the Congress of Racial Equality, where he 

18 was exposed to the nonviolent teachings of world-re19 nowned civil rights and spiritual leader Mohandas K. 

20 Gandhi (‘‘Gandhi’’). 

21 (4) From 1953 to 1956, Rev. Lawson served as 

22 a Methodist missionary at Hislop College in Nagpur, 

23 India, where he continued his studies of satyagraha, 

24 Gandhi’s philosophy of nonviolent resistance, and 

25 met with associates and fellow students of Gandhi. 


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1 (5) Rev. Lawson was instrumental in bringing 

2 the message of Gandhi to the United States. 

3 (6) Rev. Lawson viewed segregation in the 

4 United States as ‘‘much like the ‘untouchables’ of 

5 India’’ and was inspired by the view of Gandhi that 

6 it could be through African Americans that ‘‘the un7 adulterated message of nonviolence will be delivered 

8 to the world.’’. 

9 (7) In 1956, Rev. Lawson enrolled in the 

10 Oberlin School of Theology in Ohio, where he first 

11 met Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (‘‘Dr. King’’), 

12 who urged Rev. Lawson to move to the South to 

13 spread his teachings on nonviolence, saying ‘‘Don’t 

14 wait! Come now! You’re badly needed. We don’t have 

15 anyone like you!’’. 

16 (8) In 1957, Rev. Lawson answered the call of 

17 Dr. King, moving to Nashville, Tennessee, and en18 rolling at Vanderbilt Divinity School as the second 

19 African-American student in its history. 

20 (9) Rev. Lawson opened a Fellowship of Rec21 onciliation field office, became the southern secretary 

22 for the organization, and held seminars to train vol23 unteers in Gandhian tactics of nonviolent direct ac24 tion. 


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1 (10) Rev. Lawson was an advisor for the Little 

2 Rock Nine, teaching the students, in the living room 

3 of Arkansas NAACP Chair Daisy Bates, how to re4 sist their opponents using the ‘‘superior weapons’’ 

5 offered by nonviolence. 

6 (11) Rev. Lawson led the Nashville sit-in cam7 paign of 1960 that successfully challenged ‘‘Jim 

8 Crow’’ and trained a new generation of civil rights 

9 activists. 

10 (12) In 1960, the Southern Christian Leader11 ship Conference, led by Ella Baker, organized the 

12 Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, with 

13 Rev. Lawson writing the statement of purpose for 

14 the organization and delivering the keynote speech 

15 at the organization’s founding meeting in April of 

16 that year. 

17 (13) Rev. Lawson, and the activists he trained, 

18 organized many famous campaigns, including the 

19 Freedom Rides, Freedom Schools, 1963 March on 

20 Washington, Mississippi Freedom Summer, Mis21 sissippi Freedom Democratic Party, 1963 Bir22 mingham Children’s Crusade, 1965 Selma Voting 

23 Rights Movement, and 1966 Chicago Open Housing 

24 Movement. 


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1 (14) In 1968, Rev. Lawson chaired the strike 

2 committee for the Memphis Sanitation Workers, a 

3 campaign that advanced the slogan ‘‘I Am A Man’’ 

4 and was the first successful effort to organize Afri5 can-American municipal workers in the South. 

6 (15) Dr. King lauded Rev. Lawson as the 

7 ‘‘leading theorist and strategist of nonviolence in the 

8 world’’ and civil rights leader Diane Nash stated 

9 that Rev. Lawson’s ‘‘impact was fundamental and 

10 tremendous. I think that he, more than anyone else 

11 really, is why the civil rights movement was non12 violent’’. 

13 (16) In 1974, Rev. Lawson became pastor of 

14 Holman United Methodist Church in Los Angeles, 

15 where he continued his nonviolent advocacy for ra16 cial equality and social justice, including through 

17 Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, the 

18 Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the 

19 American Civil Liberties Union, Interfaith Commu20 nities United for Peace and Justice, the National 

21 Committee for Worker Justice, and many others. 

22 (17) Rev. Lawson received dozens of awards, 

23 honorary degrees, and lectureships, including the 

24 National Civil Rights Museum Freedom Award, 

25 Vanderbilt University’s Walter R. Murray DistinVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Nov 19, 2018 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7137.IH H7137

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1 guished Alumnus Award, Harvard University’s 

2 Henry Luce Lectureship, and recognition for his 

3 leadership and lifetime achievements from the Con4 gressional Black Caucus Foundation and the Amer5 ican Civil Liberties Union. 

6 (18) Rev. Lawson has played an invaluable role 

7 in the progress of the United States due to his tire8 less work to create what Dr. King called a ‘‘beloved 

9 community’’ where people treat each other with re10 spect and dignity and end all forms of violence in 

11 favor of a politics of love. 

12 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

13 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

14 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem15 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

16 for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold 

17 medal of appropriate design to Reverend James Morris 

18 Lawson, Jr., in recognition of his contributions to the 

19 United States. 

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

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

22 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec23 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 

24 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec25 retary. 


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1 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

2 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

3 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3 

4 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 

5 a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, 

6 materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead expenses, and 

7 the cost of the gold medal. 

8 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

9 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu10 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 

11 51 of title 31, United States Code. 

12 (b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of sections 

13 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 

14 struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 

15 items. 

Æ 


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