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Bill
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To posthumously award a Congressional Gold Medal to Prince Hall, in recognition of his service to the Black Community as the founder of the first Black Masonic lodge.

H.R. 9329 · 118th Congress · Aug 9, 2024 · Lineage

A BILL

Section 1 Findings

Congress finds the following:
(1)
This Act is original legislation to posthumously award a Congressional Gold Medal to Prince Hall.
(2)
Prince Hall was a free Black man who lived in colonial Boston, Massachusetts circa 1735 to 1807.
(3)
Prince Hall was an ardent abolitionist and prolific activist in Boston, Massachusetts during the American Revolutionary period.
(4)
In 1775, after being denied by an all-White Masonic lodge, Hall and 14 other free Black men formed their own lodge.
(5)
Prince Hall was elected as the leader, or “Worshipful Master”, within the newly formed African Lodge #1, later renamed African Lodge No. 459.
(6)
Because of this action Prince Hall is known as the “Father of Black Freemasonry”.
(7)
Prince Hall Freemasonry is recognized by many as the oldest continuously active organization founded by African Americans in the United States.
(8)
The Prince Hall Freemasons employed advocacy and community work to assist Blacks seeking citizenship, education, and economic advancement.
(9)
In 1777, Prince Hall petitioned the Massachusetts government to abolish slavery and is considered by some to be the first to publicly proclaim that Black people should be granted the rights laid out in the Declaration of Independence.
(10)
In 1787, a committee of 12 from the African Lodge, headed by Worshipful Master Hall, drafted, “The Boston Plan—a detailed plan for African Americans to return to Africa—to free themselves from their hostile living conditions in the United States”.
(11)
The resettlement plan requested the Massachusetts General Court to provide passage for families with the necessary provisions, utensils, and articles, as well as money to procure lands to settle upon.
(12)
In 1788, Prince Hall petitioned the Massachusetts legislature to protect Black sailors from being kidnapped and sold into slavery.
(13)
Prince Hall’s influence remains within the 5,000 lodges and 47 grand lodges who trace their lineage to the original lodge he founded.

Sec. 2 Congressional gold medal

(a)
Award authorized— The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the award, on behalf of the Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design dedicated to Prince Hall, in recognition of his service to the Black Community as the founder of the first Black Masonic lodge.
(b)
Design and striking— For the purposes of the award referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the “Secretary”) shall strike the gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary.
(c)
Smithsonian Institution—
(1)
In general— Following the award of the gold medal described in subsection (a), the gold medal shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, where it shall be displayed at the National Museum of African American History and Culture and made available for research.
(2)
Sense of Congress— It is the sense of Congress that the Smithsonian Institution should make the gold medal received under paragraph (1) available for display elsewhere, particularly at other appropriate locations associated with Prince Hall.

Sec. 3 Duplicate medals

The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold medals struck under section 2, at a price sufficient to cover the costs thereof, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses.

Sec. 4 Status of medals

(a)
National medals— The medals struck under this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.
(b)
Numismatic items— For purposes of sections 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items.

Sec. 5 Authority to use fund amounts; proceeds of sale

(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 costs of the medals struck under this Act.
(b)
Proceeds of sale— Amounts received from the sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 3 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.