|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
Congressional Gold Medal.com |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| |
| |
Congressional Gold Medal Recipients
Senator Hollings and Congressman
Clyburn Announce Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony
on September 8, 2004
See
the Presentation
Speakers Remarks at
Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony Honoring Civil Rights
Trailblazers
September 8 , 2004
(Washington, D.C.)
House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) today presented the
Congressional Gold Medal in honor of Mrs. Eliza Briggs, Mr. Harry
Briggs, the Reverend Joseph A. Delaine, and Mr. Levi Pearson. The
four were key participants in Briggs v. Elliot, one of five cases
that made up the landmark decision Brown v. Board of Education.
At the ceremony today, Speaker Hastert
delivered the following remarks:
Mrs. Eliza Briggs, Mr. Harry Briggs,
Reverend Joseph DeLaine, and Mr. Levi Pearson. Words cant
express our gratitude. How can we simply thank them? When they
walked 10 miles through a land forged with opportunity, only to be
refused at the schoolhouse door because of the color of their
skin. How can we simply thank them? When their families starved
and suffered because American businesses refused to do business
with them because of the color of their skin. How can we simply
thank them? When our land has fought, and continues to fight for
religious freedoms and their churches were burned to ashes again
because of the color of their skin.
As a former history teacher, Ive
pondered these questions many times in my head and in my classes.
And as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, here and now,
I still ponder them. The sadness lies in the cold truth that we
cannot replace the pain in their feet from walking so many miles
to school. We cannot replace the pangs of hunger they suffered.
Nor, can we rebuild their churches that are long gone.
As a history teacher, I found answers
to these questions exactly where I pondered them. Looking inside
our classrooms, we see black children next to white children. In
Congress, we see African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian
Americans, Jewish Americans, and Christian Americans all working
together to improve the lives of our fellow citizens. History
teaches us that Members of Congress hold no color, just the ideas
and thoughts of the people they represent. For this, we can truly
thank Mrs. Briggs, Mr. Briggs, Reverend DeLaine, and Mr. Pearson.
Indeed, time has also taught us that
the only way to stop the bleeding of hatred, racism, and prejudice
are the healing hands of improvement and bettering ourselves. Only
the advances that we make as a country can heal the wounds of the
past. This resolution we have passed stands as an unwavering
national recognition of these scars and a commitment to these
individuals. We must recognize past burdens and forge new paths by
providing opportunities to men and women from all walks of
life.
WASHINGTON, D. C.- Senator Fritz Hollings and
Congressman James E. Clyburn today announced that the
Congressional
Gold Medal will be awarded at 2 pm Wednesday, September 8, 2004 to
Reverend
Joseph DeLaine,
Harry and Eliza
Briggs, and
Levi Pearson for their
participation in
Briggs
v. Elliott, one of the five cases collectively known as
Brown
v. Board of Education. The Ceremony will take place in the
Capitol Rotunda and marks only the third time since 1776 that the medal
has been given for actions in South Carolina.
"Without their courage, without their
stamina, without their example in starting the Briggs v. Elliott
case, we never would have had a civil rights act," said Senator
Hollings. "We would never have had all the progress we've made over
the many, many years. We are more than ever the land of the free and the
home of the brave because of Briggs v. Elliott."
"These were ordinary citizens who did an
extraordinary thing," said Congressman Clyburn. "Their courage
and commitment to fight for a better education for their children in
Clarendon County, South Carolina has benefitted generations of children
nationwide. This Congressional medal is a fitting tribute to their
legacy. I only regret that none of the recipients are alive to see their
contributions to our nation recognized."
The Congressional Gold Medal is the most
distinguished award bestowed by the United States Congress. Through
these awards, Congress has expressed public gratitude for notable
contributions and great events in American history. The Congressional
Gold Medal has only been awarded 132 times since 1776 with such esteemed
recipients as
George Washington,
Rosa
Parks,
Mother Theresa,
Winston
Churchill, and
Bob Hope.
Briggs v. Elliott began in Summerton,
South Carolina when a local minister, Joseph DeLaine, challenged school
bus transportation that serviced only white students. Rev. DeLaine began
a petition to secure funding for a bus and gasoline so that
African
American students would not have to walk 10 miles to a segregated
school. His crusade to break down barriers in education forever damaged
his own life -- his church and home were burned, his home was shot at,
and he was forced to leave South Carolina.
Levi Pearson filed the first suit to challenge
desegregation in Clarendon County, but his case was dismissed on a
technicality. He later supported the Briggs vs. Elliott case as
Chairman of the Clarendon County NAACP. In retaliation for his
involvement, Mr. Pearson was threatened with gun violence, and local
banks and area farmers refused to do business with him.
Harry Briggs, a local gas station attendant,
and his wife Eliza, were the name defendants in South Carolina's
original case and both were fired from their jobs and forced to move out
of the state.
Briggs v. Elliott was argued by Thurgood
Marshall and later included as one of five cases in the Brown v.
Board of Education desegregation decision in 1954.
###
Congressman
Clyburn and Senator Hollings Unveil Gold Medal Honoring South
Carolina Desegregation Heroes
August
31 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressman
James E. Clyburn and Senator Fritz Hollings today released
illustrations of the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor that will be
presented to the families of four South Carolina desegregation
heroes on Wednesday, September 8th at 2:00 p.m. in the Capitol
Rotunda.
The medal contains the likenesses of Joseph A. DeLaine, Harry and
Eliza Briggs, and Levi Pearson under the heading Briggs v. Elliott,
"Our Trust In God." These figures are flanked on either
side by Palmetto trees, the State Tree of South Carolina, and across
the bottom is emblazoned Brown v. Board of Education. The reverse
side depicts Lady Justice and the heading Honoring the Pioneers and
Petitioners from Clarendon County, South Carolina. The back includes
a quote from Judge J. Waites Waring's dissenting opinion in the
Briggs v. Elliott case that the petitioners proved "that
segregation in education can never produce equality and that it is
an evil that must be eradicated." Under the quote is inscribed
Act of Congress 2003, commemorating the passage of the legislation
introduced by Congressman Clyburn in the House and Senator Hollings
in the Senate to award the medal of honor.
"This medal captures the heroism of the honorees and inspires
all of us with its message that justice can only prevail when all
races are treated equally just as we are in the eyes of the Creator
in whom these pioneers placed their faith," Congressman Clyburn
said. "The design was intended to reflect the recipients'
connection to South Carolina while recognizing their impact on the
entire nation."
"The medal depicts four valiant Americans who changed history
in the most significant judicial decision of the last century,"
Senator Hollings said. "The words of Judge Waring on the medal
are so appropriate because he was the lone voice on the right side
in the case. I look forward to presenting the medal to the honorees'
families next week, for what they did 50 years ago had a great
impact on me personally."
The families of each of the recipients will receive a medal that is
3 inches in diameter and contains approximately ounces of gold. The
U.S. Mint also produces bronze replicas in both a 3- inch and an
inch-and-a-half size that will be available for public purchase.
The medals took several months to design. Members of the families
worked with the U.S. Mint, Congressman Clyburn and Senator Hollings
to create a design that embodied the spirit of the honorees and the
importance of their contribution.
Briggs v. Elliot
The Briggs case was named for
Harry
Briggs, one of twenty parents who brought suit against R.W. Elliot,
the president of the school board for Clarendon County, South Carolina.
Initially, parents had only asked the county to provide school buses for
the black students as they did for whites. When their petitions were
ignored, they filed a suit challenging segregation itself.
Reverend
J. A. DeLaine, a school principal, was instrumental in recruiting
the parent plaintiffs and enlisting the help of the NAACP.
Thurgood
Marshall, lead counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Inc., and
Harold Boulware, a local lawyer, filed Briggs v. Elliot in the fall of
1950.
A three-judge panel at the U.S.
District Court was presented with substantial psycholog-ical evidence
and expert testimony presented on
African-American
school conditions. The court denied the plaintiffs request to abolish
school segregation. Instead , they ordered the school board to begin
equalization of the schools. In a lone dissenting opinion, Judge Julius
Waring adamantly opposed segregation in public education. Facing
retaliation from irate segregationists, Waring left the state soon
after. J.A. DeLaine and Harry Briggs also lost their jobs as a result of
their involvement with the case.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Articles & Breifings
