    [United States Statutes at Large, Volume 117, 108th Congress, 1st Session]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    117 STAT. 2645

    Public Law 108-180
    108th Congress

    An Act

    To award congressional gold medals posthumously on behalf of Reverend
    Joseph A. DeLaine, Harry and Eliza Briggs, and Levi Pearson in
    recognition of their contributions to the Nation as pioneers in the
    effort to desegregate public schools that led directly to the landmark
    desegregation case of Brown et al. v. the Board of Education of Topeka
    et al. <>

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

    SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds as follows:
    (1) The Reverend Joseph Armstrong DeLaine, one of the true
    heroes of the civil rights struggle, led a crusade to break down
    barriers in education in South Carolina.
    (2) The efforts of Reverend DeLaine led to the desegregation
    of public schools in the United States, but forever scarred his
    own life.
    (3) In 1949, Joseph DeLaine, a minister and school
    principal, organized African-American parents in Summerton,
    South Carolina, to petition the school board for a bus for black
    students, who had to walk up to 10 miles through corn and cotton
    fields to attend a segregated school, while the white children
    in the school district rode to and from school in nice clean
    buses.
    (4) In 1950, these same parents, including Harry and Eliza
    Briggs, sued to end public school segregation in Briggs et al.
    v. Elliott et al., one of 5 cases that collectively led to the
    landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision of Brown et al. v. Board of
    Education of Topeka et al.
    (5) Because of his participation in the desegregation
    movement, Reverend DeLaine was subjected to repeated acts of
    domestic terror in which--
    (A) he, along with 2 sisters and a niece, lost their
    jobs;
    (B) he fought off an angry mob;
    (C) he received frequent death threats; and
    (D) his church and his home were burned to the
    ground.
    (6) In October 1955, after Reverend DeLaine relocated to
    Florence County in South Carolina, shots were fired at the
    DeLaine home, and because Reverend DeLaine fired back to mark
    the car, he was charged with assault and battery with intent to
    kill.

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    117 STAT. 2646

    (7) The shooting incident drove him from South Carolina to
    Buffalo, New York, where he organized an African Methodist
    Episcopal Church.
    (8) Believing that he would not be treated fairly by the
    South Carolina judicial system if he returned to South Carolina,
    Reverend DeLaine told the Federal Bureau of Investigation, ``I
    am not running from justice but injustice'', and it was not
    until 2000 (26 years after his death and 45 years after the
    incident) that Reverend DeLaine was cleared of all charges
    relating to the October 1955 incident.
    (9) Reverend DeLaine was a humble and fearless man who
    showed the Nation that all people, regardless of the color of
    their skin, deserve a first-rate education, a lesson from which
    the Nation has benefited immeasurably.
    (10) Reverend DeLaine deserves rightful recognition for the
    suffering that he and his family endured to teach the Nation one
    of the great civil rights lessons of the last century.
    (11) Like the Reverend DeLaine and Harry and Eliza Briggs,
    Levi Pearson was an integral participant in the struggle to
    equalize the educational experiences of white and black students
    in South Carolina.
    (12) Levi Pearson, with the assistance of Reverend Joseph
    DeLaine, filed a lawsuit against the Clarendon County School
    District to protest the inequitable treatment of black children.
    (13) As a result of his lawsuit, Levi Pearson also suffered
    from acts of domestic terror, such as the time gun shots were
    fired into his home, as well as economic consequences: local
    banks refused to provide him with credit to purchase farming
    materials and area farmers refused to lend him equipment.
    (14) Although his case was ultimately dismissed on a
    technicality, Levi Pearson's courage to stand up for equalized
    treatment and funding for black students served as the catalyst
    for further attempts to desegregate South Carolina schools, as
    he continued to fight against segregation practices and became
    President of Clarendon County Chapter of the NAACP.
    (15) When Levi Pearson's litigation efforts to obtain
    equalized treatment and funding for black students were stymied,
    Harry and Eliza Briggs, a service station attendant and a maid,
    continued to fight for not only equalized treatment of all
    children but desegregated schools as well.
    (16) As with Reverend DeLaine and Levi Pearson, the family
    of Harry and Eliza Briggs suffered consequences for their
    efforts: Harry and Eliza both were fired from their jobs and
    forced to move their family to Florida.
    (17) Although they and their family suffered tremendously,
    Harry and Eliza Briggs were also pioneers leading the effort to
    desegregate America's public schools.

    SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

    (a) Presentation Authorized.--In recognition of the contributions of
    Reverend Joseph A. DeLaine, Harry and Eliza Briggs, and Levi Pearson to
    the Nation as pioneers in the effort to desegregate public schools that
    led directly to the landmark desegregation case of Brown et al. v. the
    Board of Education of Topeka et al., 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

    [[Page 2647]]
    117 STAT. 2647

    of appropriate design, to Joseph De Laine, Jr., as next of kin of
    Reverend Joseph A. DeLaine, and to the next of kin or other personal
    representative of Harry and Eliza Briggs and of Levi Pearson.
    (b) Design and Striking.--For the purposes of the awards referred to
    in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act
    referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall strike 3 gold medals 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
    medals struck pursuant to section 2, under such regulations as the
    Secretary may prescribe, and at a price sufficient to cover the costs
    thereof, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and
    overhead expenses, and the cost of the gold medals.

    SEC. 4. STATUS AS NATIONAL MEDALS.

    (a) National Medals.--The medals struck pursuant 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.

    SEC. 5. FUNDING.

    (a) Authority To Use Fund Amounts.--There is authorized to be
    charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund such
    amounts as may be necessary to pay for the cost of the medals authorized
    by this Act.
    (b) Proceeds of Sale.--Amounts received from the sale of duplicate
    bronze medals under section 3 shall be deposited in the United States
    Mint Public Enterprise Fund.

    Approved December 15, 2003.

    LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--H.R. 3287 (S. 498):
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    CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 149 (2003):
    Nov. 18, considered and passed House.
    Nov. 25, considered and passed Senate.