Sarah Keys Evans Congressional Gold Medal Act
This bill, titled the Sarah Keys Evans Congressional Gold Medal Act, would formally recognize and honor Sarah Keys Evans, a military veteran and civil rights pioneer, by authorizing the awarding of a Congressional Gold Medal to her. The bill lays out that the Speaker of the House and the President pro tempore of the Senate should arrange the presentation of the gold medal on behalf of Congress, with the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury responsible for striking the medal with a design determined by the Secretary. It also allows the issuance of bronze duplicates to be sold to cover production costs. The findings accompanying the bill recount Keys Evans’s life and her role in challenging interstate bus segregation, highlighting her 1952-1955 legal actions that helped shape desegregation efforts preceding other landmark civil rights cases and events.
Key Points
- 1Purpose and recognition: The act authorizes the presentation of a Congressional Gold Medal to Sarah Keys Evans in recognition of her civil rights leadership and military service, including her pivotal case against segregation in interstate bus travel (Sarah Keys v. Carolina Coach Company).
- 2Presentation and design: The Speaker of the House and the President pro tempore of the Senate are to arrange the presentation on behalf of Congress, and the Secretary of the Treasury will strike the gold medal with a design determined by the Secretary.
- 3Duplicates and costs: The Secretary may strike bronze duplicate medals and may sell them to cover the costs of production and related expenses.
- 4Medal status: The medals struck under the act are national medals under 31 U.S.C. chapter 51 and are considered numismatic items under 31 U.S.C. 5134.
- 5Legislative findings: The bill includes detailed findings about Keys Evans’s life, the historical context of her legal challenge, and its impact on desegregation efforts in interstate travel, positioning her contributions as foundational to later civil rights progress.