Title: To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Edwin Cole "Ed" Bearss, in recognition of his contributions to preservation of American Civil War history and continued efforts to bring our Nation's history alive for new generations through his interpretive storytelling.
Policy area: Social Sciences and History

Summary:
This bill directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the presentation of a Congressional Gold Medal to Edwin Cole "Ed" Bearss in recognition of his contributions to the preservation of American Civil War history and his continued efforts to bring our nation's history alive for new generations through his interpretive storytelling.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7385 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7385

  To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Edwin Cole ``Ed'' Bearss, in 
recognition of his contributions to preservation of American Civil War 
 history and continued efforts to bring our Nation's history alive for 
         new generations through his interpretive storytelling.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 26, 2020

 Mr. Connolly introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Edwin Cole ``Ed'' Bearss, in 
recognition of his contributions to preservation of American Civil War 
 history and continued efforts to bring our Nation's history alive for 
         new generations through his interpretive storytelling.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Edwin Cole ``Ed'' Bearss was born June 26, 1923, in 
        Billings, Montana, to Omar and Virginia Bearss.
            (2) During a 40-year career with the National Park Service, 
        Mr. Bearss distinguished himself as one of America's preeminent 
        historians, particularly in the field of the Civil War, not 
        only through his work to preserve the places in which our 
        Nation's history was forged but also through his captivating 
        interpretive storytelling about the people and events that 
        shaped those places.
            (3) Mr. Bearss' lifelong passion for Civil War history was 
        kindled during his youth. Even at an early age, Mr. Bearss 
        demonstrated a knack for committing facts to memory, a skill 
        that helped him win school contests in history, current events, 
        and geography.
            (4) He graduated high school in May 1941 and the following 
        year joined the U.S. Marine Corps, serving with the 3rd Marine 
        Raider Battalion during the invasion of Guadalcanal and the 
        Russell Islands. He was badly wounded in gunfire at ``Suicide 
        Creek'', Cape Gloucester, New Britain, while serving with the 
        7th Regiment, 1st Marine Division.
            (5) Upon returning home, Mr. Bearss attended Georgetown 
        University, obtaining a bachelor's degree in Foreign Service 
        studies, and later attended Indiana University, earning a 
        master's degree in history.
            (6) It was during a fortuitous visit to the Shiloh National 
        Military Park in Tennessee, on a tour with the park historian, 
        where the seeds were planted for Mr. Bearss' future career with 
        the National Park Service.
            (7) In 1955, he landed a job as park historian at the 
        National Battlefield Park in Vicksburg, Mississippi, where his 
        research helped fill in missing pieces of Civil War history. 
        None were more significant than the discovery of the USS Cairo, 
        a long-lost Union ironclad gunboat sunk by Confederate 
        submarine torpedoes in 1862 that was buried in the mud of the 
        Yazoo River. Mr. Bearss later authored a book on the ``sinking 
        and salvage'' of the ironclad.
            (8) It was during his tenure at Vicksburg that he met his 
        wife, Margie, a teacher who shared Mr. Bearss' love of history. 
        They had three children, Sara, Cole, and Jenny.
            (9) Mr. Bearss became the National Park Service's chief 
        historian in 1981. Following his retirement in 1994, he was 
        recognized with the title Chief Historian Emeritus, a fitting 
        title as his research and recounting of our Nation's history 
        continues to this day.
            (10) Whenever possible, he travels to our Nation's Civil 
        War battlefields, helping to preserve the places where history 
        happened and make those places come alive as a public 
        historian. He once said, ``You can't describe a battlefield 
        unless you walk it.''. Anyone who has spent time with Mr. 
        Bearss touring a battlefield, sometimes braving the elements, 
        enthralled by his prodigious tales regards him as a National 
        Treasure. His unique chronicling of our Nation's history has 
        been described as a ``transcendental experience'' of ``Homeric 
        monologues'' punctuated by ``colorful, vivid images''. Mr. 
        Bearss himself has been described as a cross between ``a good-
        natured platoon sergeant and Walter Cronkite''. He lectures 
        with his eye closed, so he can ``see'' the history better, he 
        once said.
            (11) Mr. Bearss has received multiple honors for his 
        contributions to the preservation of our Nation's history: the 
        Harry S. Truman Award in 1961 for Meritorious Service in the 
        field of Civil War history, Man of the Year at Vicksburg in 
        1963, inducted a member of the Company of Military Historians 
        in 1964, the Nevins-Freeman Award from the Chicago Civil War 
        Roundtable in 1980, the Department of the Interior's 
        Distinguished Service Award in 1983, and a commendation from 
        the Secretary of the Army in 1985. The Secretary of the 
        Interior at the time, James Watt, called Mr. Bearss 
        ``unquestionably the most productive historian in the history 
        of the National Park Service''.
            (12) Mr. Bearss continued to tour the country well into his 
        later years, visiting battlefields and Civil War organizations, 
        to keep America's history fresh in the minds of future 
        generations.

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

    (a) Presentation Authorized.--The Speaker of the House of 
Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall make 
appropriate arrangements for the presentation, on behalf of the 
Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design to Edwin Cole ``Ed'' 
Bearss, in recognition of his contributions to preservation of American 
Civil War history and continued efforts to bring our Nation's history 
alive for new generations through his interpretive storytelling.
    (b) Design and Striking.--For purposes of the presentation referred 
to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in this 
Act referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall strike a gold medal with 
suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the 
Secretary.

SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

    The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold 
medal struck pursuant to section 2 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. 4. STATUS OF MEDALS.

    The medals struck pursuant to this Act are national medals for 
purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.
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