I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1861 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal in honor of Lawrence Eugene ‘‘Larry’’ 

Doby in recognition of his achievements and contributions to American 

major league athletics, civil rights, and the Armed Forces during World 

War II. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 3, 2017 

Mr. RENACCI (for himself, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. 

ALLEN, Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. KIND, Mr. 

MACARTHUR, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. 

STIVERS, Mr. ROTHFUS, Mr. AMODEI, Mr. PEARCE, Mr. LANCE, Mr. 

KINZINGER, Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania, Mr. FARENTHOLD, Mrs. COMSTOCK, Mr. KNIGHT, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. JOYCE of Ohio, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. 

BARLETTA, Mr. GUTHRIE, Mr. ROE of Tennessee, Mrs. BLACK, Mr. 

SIRES, Mr. VALADAO, Mrs. MURPHY of Florida, Mr. SOTO, Mr. 

BUCSHON, Mr. KILMER, Mrs. WALORSKI, Mr. GIBBS, Mr. SWALWELL of 

California, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. WELCH, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. 

LEVIN, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Mr. CLEAVER, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. 

NORCROSS, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. SCHRADER, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. RICHMOND, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. NADLER, Mr. 

CONNOLLY, Ms. MENG, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Ms. 

MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico, Mr. KENNEDY, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California, Mr. 

BISHOP of Michigan, Mr. BYRNE, Mr. LATTA, Mr. TURNER, Mr. GOHMERT, Mr. ROSKAM, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. COLLINS of New 

York, Mr. MCCAUL, Mr. BISHOP of Utah, Miss RICE of New York, Mr. 

MOULTON, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. 

VARGAS, Ms. TSONGAS, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. CLAY, Mr. 

DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mr. STEWART, Mr. 

ROHRABACHER, Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. MCKINLEY, Mr. 

SMITH of Texas, Mr. WOODALL, Mr. LONG, Mr. OLSON, Mr. WITTMAN, 

Mr. HOLDING, Mr. JODY B. HICE of Georgia, Mr. HUDSON, Mr. DAVIDSON, Mr. TIBERI, Mr. BERGMAN, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. ISSA, Mr. LAMALFA, 

Mr. WALBERG, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. JEFFRIES, Mr. PETERS, Mr. 

GOTTHEIMER, Mr. CRAWFORD, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. WALKER, Mr. 

JOHNSON of Ohio, Mr. MARINO, Mr. PITTENGER, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. 


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•HR 1861 IH

COOK, Mr. YODER, and Mr. BRAT) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal in honor of Lawrence 

Eugene ‘‘Larry’’ Doby in recognition of his achievements 

and contributions to American major league athletics, 

civil rights, and the Armed Forces during World War 

II. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘The Larry Doby Con5 gressional Gold Medal Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) Larry Doby was born in Camden, South 

9 Carolina, on December 13, 1923, and moved to 

10 Paterson, New Jersey, in 1938, where he became a 

11 standout 4 sport athlete at Paterson Eastside High 

12 School; 

13 (2) Larry Doby attended Long Island Univer14 sity on a basketball scholarship before enlisting in 

15 the United States Navy during World War II; 


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•HR 1861 IH

1 (3) upon his honorable discharge from the Navy 

2 in 1946, Larry Doby played baseball in the Negro 

3 National League for the Newark Eagles; 

4 (4) after playing the 1946 season, Larry Doby’s 

5 contract was purchased by the Cleveland Indians of 

6 the American League on July 3, 1947; 

7 (5) on July 5, 1947, Larry Doby became the 

8 first African-American to play in the American 

9 League; 

10 (6) Larry Doby played in the American League 

11 for 13 years, appearing in 1,533 games and batting 

12 .283, with 253 home runs and 970 runs batted in; 

13 (7) Larry Doby was voted to 7 All-Star teams, 

14 led the American League in home runs twice, and 

15 played in 2 World Series; 

16 (8) in 1948, Larry Doby helped lead the Cleve17 land Indians to a World Series Championship over 

18 the Boston Braves and became the first African19 American player to hit a home run in a World Series 

20 game; 

21 (9) after his stellar playing career ended, Larry 

22 Doby continued to make a significant contribution to 

23 his community; 

24 (10) Larry Doby was a pioneer in the cause of 

25 civil rights and received honorary doctorate degrees 


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•HR 1861 IH

1 from Long Island University, Princeton University, 

2 and Fairfield University; 

3 (11) in 1978, Larry Doby became the manager 

4 of the Chicago White Sox, only the second African5 American manager of a Major League Baseball 

6 team; 

7 (12) Larry Doby was the Director of Commu8 nity Relations for the New Jersey Nets of the Na9 tional Basketball Association, where he was deeply 

10 involved in a number of inner-city youth programs; 

11 and 

12 (13) Larry Doby was inducted to the National 

13 Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998. 

14 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

15 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

16 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem17 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

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

19 medal of appropriate design, in honor of Larry Doby and 

20 in recognition of his achievements and contributions to 

21 American major league athletics, civil rights, and the 

22 Armed Forces during World War II. 

23 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purpose of the 

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

25 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Apr 08, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1861.IH H1861

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•HR 1861 IH

1 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 

2 devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the Sec3 retary. 

4 (c) TRANSFER OF MEDAL AFTER PRESENTATION.— 

5 Following the presentation of the gold medal in honor of 

6 Larry Doby pursuant to subsection (a), the gold medal 

7 shall be given to his son, Larry Doby, Jr. 

8 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

9 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

10 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 2 

11 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 

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

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

14 and the cost of the gold medal. 

15 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

16 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck under 

17 this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 

18 of title 31, United States Code. 

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

20 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 

21 struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 

22 items. 

Æ 


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