I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 958 
To posthumously award a Congressional gold medal to Clyde Kennard in 
recognition of his sacrifice for education equality. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 12, 2015 
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To posthumously award a Congressional gold medal to Clyde 
Kennard in recognition of his sacrifice for education equality. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Clyde Kennard Con-
gressional Gold Medal Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds that: 
(1) July 4, 2013, marked the 50th anniversary 
of the one of the largest miscarriages of justice in 
Mississippi legislative history, as Clyde Kennard was 
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framed to prevent his entrance into the University of 
Southern Mississippi (U.S.M.). 
(2) Clyde Kennard was a veteran of the United 
States Army returning home to Hattiesburg, Mis-
sissippi, following his stepfather’s death to assist his 
mother at the family’s farm. 
(3) Kennard had attended the University of 
Chicago with aid from the G.I. Bill prior to return-
ing home. In an effort to complete his education, he 
applied to the University of Southern Mississippi in 
1955. 
(4) Kennard was denied entrance to the all 
White college on the grounds that he could not pro-
vide five character references from U.S.M. alumni, 
making the request nearly impossible. 
(5) President William D. McCain refused to 
admit Kennard, despite admitting to the Mississippi 
State Sovereignty Commission that Kennard met all 
of the requisite admission criteria for U.S.M. 
(6) On December 6, 1958, Kennard wrote a let-
ter to the Hattiesburg American discussing the ra-
cial tensions caused by his hopes to attend U.S.M. 
and chronicling African-American hopes to be viewed 
as equal. 
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(7) The Sovereignty Commission doubled their 
efforts to discredit Kennard, employing an ex-FBI 
agent to go through Kennard’s records of his six 
years as a student at the University of Chicago. 
(8) Following Kennard’s 1958 letter, Governor 
James P. Coleman called Kennard to his office 
where he asked him to hold off on the application 
to U.S.M. until after the election. 
(9) Following the election, Kennard applied and 
his University of Chicago transcript was ‘‘lost’’ by 
U.S.M. administration. 
(10) President McCain called Kennard to his 
office and informed him of the administration’s 
search for the papers. 
(11) As Kennard left the office, two Forrest 
County constables arrested him, claiming to have 
followed him from his home for having whiskey in a 
then dry State. 
(12) He was charged, found guilty and fined 
$600. As a result, his bank credit was cut off. 
(13) On September 25, 1960, Kennard was ar-
rested for having stolen $25 worth of chicken feed 
from Forrest County Cooperative warehouse. He was 
convicted and sentenced to seven years at Parchman 
Penitentiary. 
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(14) While in the Parchman Penitentiary in 
1961, Kennard was diagnosed with colon cancer and 
was refused care. 
(15) By 1963, after the cancer had become un-
treatable, Governor Ross Barnett indefinitely sus-
pended Kennard’s sentence. 
(16) On July 4, 1963, Kennard died of colon 
cancer. 
SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 
(a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 
the House of Representatives and the President pro tem-
pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 
for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of the Con-
gress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in commemo-
ration of Clyde Kennard in recognition of his sacrifice for 
education equality. 
(b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purpose of the 
presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 
of the Treasury (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the 
‘‘Secretary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable em-
blems, devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the 
Secretary. 
(c) AWARD OF MEDAL.—Following the presentation 
of the gold medal referred to in subsection (a), the medal 
shall be awarded to the Mississippi State Conference of 
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the National Association for the Advancement of Colored 
People, where it shall be available for display or temporary 
loan for display elsewhere, as appropriate. 
SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 
(a) The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 
bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3 
under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 
a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, 
materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses, 
and the cost of the gold medal. 
SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 
(a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu-
ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 
51 of title 31, United States Code. 
(b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section 
5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 
under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items. 
Æ 
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