I 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6836 

To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Robert Parris Moses, 

in recognition of his achievements and contributions to advancing American education and civil rights. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 25, 2022 

Mr. ESPAILLAT (for himself, Mr. RASKIN, and Ms. WILSON of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on House Administration, 

for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 

for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 

committee concerned 

A BILL 

To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Robert Parris Moses, in recognition of his achievements and 

contributions to advancing American education 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 ‘‘Robert Parris Moses 

5 Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 The Congress finds that: 

3 (1) Robert Parris Moses was born in Harlem, 

4 New York City, on January 23, 1935. 

5 (2) Robert Parris Moses is regarded as an in6 fluential civil rights activist, peace activist, public 

7 education advocate, and math literacy educator. 

8 (3) Moses grew up in Harlem River Houses and 

9 was one of only a handful of Black students at the 

10 time who was admitted to Stuyvesant High School. 

11 (4) Moses earned a scholarship to Hamilton 

12 College in Clinton, New York, and subsequently ob13 tained a master’s degree in philosophy from Harvard 

14 University in 1957. 

15 (5) His doctorate studies in mathematics were 

16 halted due to the death of his mother and the hos17 pitalization of his father. 

18 (6) In 1959, Moses helped with the second 

19 Youth March for Integrated Schools in Washington, 

20 DC. 

21 (7) Moses visited Mississippi in the summer of 

22 1960, and met with local National Association for 

23 the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) lead24 ers who indicated the need to focus on voter reg25 istration. He returned to Mississippi after teaching 

26 the 1960–1961 school year in New York, where he 


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1 organized and registered thousands of poor, illit2 erate, and rural Black residents to vote. 

3 (8) As a leader of the Student Nonviolent Co4 ordinating Committee, in 1964, Moses helped orga5 nize the Mississippi ‘‘Freedom’’ Summer Project. 

6 (9) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., called Moses’ 

7 ‘‘contribution to the freedom struggle in America’’ 

8 an ‘‘inspiration’’. 

9 (10) After Moses married Janet, they started a 

10 family in Tanzania. He spent nearly a decade there 

11 teaching mathematics and working with the Ministry 

12 of Education. 

13 (11) Moses returned to the United States in 

14 1976, and continued his doctoral studies in Philos15 ophy of Mathematics at Harvard. He received a 

16 MacArthur Fellowship in 1982, which he used to 

17 promote the Algebra Project. 

18 (12) In founding the Algebra Project, Moses 

19 stated that K–12 math literacy, like voting literacy, 

20 is key to full citizenship for Americans from poor 

21 and minority communities as our society shifts from 

22 the Industrial Age to the Information Age. 

23 (13) The Algebra Project is a non-profit dedi24 cated to helping students from historically 

25 marginalized communities, including Black, Brown, 


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1 and youth living in poverty, who often hail from low2 income households. Students develop math literacy 

3 skills, which Bob Moses viewed as the path to per4 manently improving their life circumstances, as well 

5 as the social and economic conditions of their com6 munities. 

7 (14) The Algebra Project uses mathematics lit8 eracy as an organizing tool to guarantee quality pub9 lic-school education for all children in the United 

10 States. 

11 (15) The Algebra Project is one of the few 

12 mathematics education initiatives to originate in the 

13 African-American community. 

14 (16) Since its inception in 1982, the Algebra 

15 Project has helped more than 40,000 students in 

16 hundreds of schools nationwide. 

17 (17) In 1996, the Young People’s Project was 

18 launched by Algebra Project graduates from Cam19 bridge, MA, and Algebra Project middle school stu20 dents from Jackson, Mississippi. The Young Peo21 ple’s Project recruits and trains high school and col22 lege age ‘‘Math Literacy Workers’’ to facilitate en23 richment workshops for younger students in mathe24 matics. 


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1 (18) For his work, Bob Moses has been hon2 ored, including with an Honorary Doctor of Science 

3 from Harvard University and Ohio State University, 

4 an Honorary Doctor of Laws from Princeton Uni5 versity, the John Dewey Prize for Progressive Edu6 cation, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Na7 tional Council of the Teachers of Mathematics, and 

8 was inducted to the American Academy of Arts and 

9 Sciences. 

10 (19) Moses wrote about his vision for education 

11 and experiences. He was co-author of Radical Equa12 tions–Civil Rights from Mississippi to the Algebra 

13 Project (2001), and co-editor of Quality Education 

14 as a Constitutional Right–Creating a Grassroots 

15 Movement to Transform America’s Schools (2010). 

16 (20) Moses wrote in Radical Equations that 

17 ‘‘the most urgent social issue affecting poor people 

18 and people of color, is economic access. In today’s 

19 world, economic access and full citizenship depend 

20 crucially on math and science literacy. I believe that 

21 the absence of math literacy in urban and rural com22 munities throughout this country is an issue as ur23 gent as the lack of registered Black voters in Mis24 sissippi was in 1961.’’. 


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1 (21) Bob Moses passed away in Hollywood, 

2 Florida, on July 25, 2021. 

3 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

4 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

5 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem6 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

7 for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of the Con8 gress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in commemo9 ration of Robert Parris Moses, in recognition of his 

10 achievements and contributions to American education 

11 and civil rights. 

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

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

14 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec15 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 

16 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec17 retary. 

18 (c) AUTHORIZED RECIPIENT.—Following the award 

19 of the gold medal under subsection (a), in honor of Moses, 

20 the gold medal shall be given to Maisha Moses, Robert 

21 Parris Moses’ daughter. 

22 (d) NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HIS23 TORY AND CULTURE.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—A bronze duplicate of the 

25 gold medal awarded under subsection (a) shall be 


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1 given to the National Museum of African American 

2 History and Culture, where it shall be available for 

3 display as appropriate and made available for re4 search. 

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

6 Congress that the National Museum of African 

7 American History and Culture should make the gold 

8 medal received under paragraph (1) available for 

9 display elsewhere, particularly at other appropriate 

10 locations associated with Robert Parris Moses. 

11 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

12 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

13 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3 

14 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 

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

16 materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 

17 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

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

19 this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 

20 of title 31, United States Code. 

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

22 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 

23 struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 

24 items. 

Æ 


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