108TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 3287

AN ACT

To award congressional gold medals posthumously

on behalf of Reverend Joseph A. DeLaine, Harryand Eliza Briggs, and Levi Pearson in recognition of their contributions to the Nation as pioneers in the effort to desegregate public schoolsthat led directly to the landmark desegregationcase of Brown et al. v. the Board of Educationof Topeka et al.

108TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 3287

AN ACT

To award congressional gold medals posthumously on behalf

of Reverend Joseph A. DeLaine, Harry and Eliza Briggs,

and Levi Pearson in recognition of their contributions

to the Nation as pioneers in the effort to desegregate

public schools that led directly to the landmark desegregation case of Brown et al. v. the Board of Education

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

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

4 The Congress finds as follows:

5 (1) The Reverend Joseph Armstrong DeLaine,

6 one of the true heroes of the civil rights struggle, led

7 a crusade to break down barriers in education in

8 South Carolina.

9 (2) The efforts of Reverend DeLaine led to the

10 desegregation of public schools in the United States,

11 but forever scarred his own life.

12 (3) In 1949, Joseph DeLaine, a minister and

13 school principal, organized African-American parents

14 in Summerton, South Carolina, to petition the school

15 board for a bus for black students, who had to walk

16 up to 10 miles through corn and cotton fields to at17 tend a segregated school, while the white children in

18 the school district rode to and from school in nice

19 clean buses.

20 (4) In 1950, these same parents, including

21 Harry and Eliza Briggs, sued to end public school

22 segregation in Briggs et al. v. Elliott et al., one of

23 5 cases that collectively led to the landmark 1954

24 Supreme Court decision of Brown et al. v. Board of

25 Education of Topeka et al.
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1 (5) Because of his participation in the desegre2 gation movement, Reverend DeLaine was subjected

3 to repeated acts of domestic terror in which—

4 (A) he, along with 2 sisters and a niece,

5 lost their jobs;

6 (B) he fought off an angry mob;

7 (C) he received frequent death threats; and

8 (D) his church and his home were burned

9 to the ground.

10 (6) In October 1955, after Reverend DeLaine

11 relocated to Florence County in South Carolina,

12 shots were fired at the DeLaine home, and because

13 Reverend DeLaine fired back to mark the car, he

14 was charged with assault and battery with intent to

15 kill.

16 (7) The shooting incident drove him from South

17 Carolina to Buffalo, New York, where he organized

18 an African Methodist Episcopal Church.

19 (8) Believing that he would not be treated fairly

20 by the South Carolina judicial system if he returned

21 to South Carolina, Reverend DeLaine told the Fed22 eral Bureau of Investigation, ‘‘I am not running

23 from justice but injustice’’, and it was not until

24 2000 (26 years after his death and 45 years after
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1 the incident) that Reverend DeLaine was cleared of

2 all charges relating to the October 1955 incident.

3 (9) Reverend DeLaine was a humble and fear4 less man who showed the Nation that all people, re5 gardless of the color of their skin, deserve a first6 rate education, a lesson from which the Nation has

7 benefited immeasurably.

8 (10) Reverend DeLaine deserves rightful rec9 ognition for the suffering that he and his family en10 dured to teach the Nation one of the great civil

11 rights lessons of the last century.

12 (11) Like the Reverend DeLaine and Harry

13 and Eliza Briggs, Levi Pearson was an integral par14 ticipant in the struggle to equalize the educational

15 experiences of white and black students in South

16 Carolina.

17 (12) Levi Pearson, with the assistance of Rev18 erend Joseph DeLaine, filed a lawsuit against the

19 Clarendon County School District to protest the in20 equitable treatment of black children.

21 (13) As a result of his lawsuit, Levi Pearson

22 also suffered from acts of domestic terror, such as

23 the time gun shots were fired into his home, as well

24 as economic consequences: local banks refused to

25 provide him with credit to purchase farming mate-
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1 rials and area farmers refused to lend him equip2 ment.

3 (14) Although his case was ultimately dismissed

4 on a technicality, Levi Pearson’s courage to stand

5 up for equalized treatment and funding for black

6 students served as the catalyst for further attempts

7 to desegregate South Carolina schools, as he contin8 ued to fight against segregation practices and be9 came President of Clarendon County Chapter of the

10 NAACP.

11 (15) When Levi Pearson’s litigation efforts to

12 obtain equalized treatment and funding for black

13 students were stymied, Harry and Eliza Briggs, a

14 service station attendant and a maid, continued to

15 fight for not only equalized treatment of all children

16 but desegregated schools as well.

17 (16) As with Reverend DeLaine and Levi Pear18 son, the family of Harry and Eliza Briggs suffered

19 consequences for their efforts: Harry and Eliza both

20 were fired from their jobs and forced to move their

21 family to Florida.

22 (17) Although they and their family suffered

23 tremendously, Harry and Eliza Briggs were also pio24 neers leading the effort to desegregate America’s

25 public schools.
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1 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

2 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—In recognition of

3 the contributions of Reverend Joseph A. DeLaine, Harry

4 and Eliza Briggs, and Levi Pearson to the Nation as pio5 neers in the effort to desegregate public schools that led

6 directly to the landmark desegregation case of Brown et

7 al. v. the Board of Education of Topeka et al., the Speaker

8 of the House of Representatives and the President Pro

9 Tempore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrange10 ments for the presentation, on behalf of the Congress, of

11 a gold medal of appropriate design, to Joseph De Laine,

12 Jr., as next of kin of Reverend Joseph A. DeLaine, and

13 to the next of kin or other personal representative of

14 Harry and Eliza Briggs and of Levi Pearson.

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

16 awards referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the

17 Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Sec18 retary’’) shall strike 3 gold medals with suitable emblems,

19 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec20 retary.

21 SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

22 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in

23 bronze of the gold medals struck pursuant to section 2,

24 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe,

25 and at a price sufficient to cover the costs thereof, includ-
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1 ing labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead

2 expenses, and the cost of the gold medals.

3 SEC. 4. STATUS AS NATIONAL MEDALS.

4 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu5 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter

6 51 of title 31, United States Code.

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

8 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck

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

10 SEC. 5. FUNDING.

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

12 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint

13 Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be nec14 essary to pay for the cost of the medals authorized by this

15 Act.

16 (b) PROCEEDS OF SALE.—Amounts received from the

17 sale of duplicate bronze medals under section 3 shall be

18 deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise

19 Fund.

Passed the House of Representatives November 18,

2003.

Attest:

Clerk.