I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5561 

To posthumously award a Congressional Gold Medal to Barbara Rose Johns 

in recognition of her achievements and contributions to the Nation and 

civil rights. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 18, 2018 

Mr. GARRETT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To posthumously award a Congressional Gold Medal to Barbara Rose Johns in recognition of her achievements and 

contributions to the Nation and civil rights. 

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 ‘‘Barbara Johns Con5 gressional Gold Medal Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Barbara Rose Johns was born in New York 

9 City, New York, on March 6, 1935, and moved to 


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1 Prince Edward County, Virginia, where schools were 

2 segregated among African American and White stu3 dents. 

4 (2) On April 23, 1951, at the age of 16, Johns 

5 led a student strike at Robert Russa Moton High 

6 School in Prince Edward, Virginia, to protest the 

7 substandard conditions which became the catalyst to 

8 bring attention to the inequality of the segregated 

9 school system. 

10 (3) After securing legal support from the Na11 tional Association for the Advancement of Colored 

12 People, these Moton students filed suit in Davis v. 

13 Prince Edward County, the largest and only student 

14 initiated case that was consolidated into Brown v. 

15 Board of Education, the landmark 1954 United 

16 States Supreme Court decision declaring segregation 

17 and the ‘‘separate but equal’’ principle in public 

18 schools to be unconstitutional. 

19 (4) Johns furthered her education at Spelman 

20 College and Drexel University. She continued her de21 sire for knowledge by eventually becoming a school 

22 librarian. Johns went on to marry Rev. William 

23 Powell and had five children. She passed away on 

24 September 25, 1991, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 


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1 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

2 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

3 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem4 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

5 for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of Congress, 

6 of a gold medal of appropriate design, in honor of Barbara 

7 Rose Johns in recognition of her achievements and con8 tributions to the Nation and the civil rights. 

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

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

11 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec12 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 

13 devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the Sec14 retary. 

15 (c) TRANSFER OF MEDAL AFTER PRESENTATION.— 

16 Following the presentation of the gold medal in honor of 

17 Barbara Rose Johns pursuant to subsection (a), the gold 

18 medal shall be given to the Robert Russa Moton Museum. 

19 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

20 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

21 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3 

22 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 

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

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

25 the cost of the gold medal. 


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1 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

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

3 this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 

4 of title 31, United States Code. 

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

6 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 

7 struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 

8 items. 

Æ 


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