Civil Rights Icon Joan Trumpauer Mulholland to Receive Congressional Gold Medal for Lifetime of Activism

The Joan Trumpauer Mulholland Congressional Gold Medal Act is exactly what it sounds like: a bill to formally recognize and honor civil rights pioneer Joan Trumpauer Mulholland with one of the nation’s highest civilian awards. This legislation isn't about changing policy or spending taxpayer money on new programs; it’s about history, recognition, and setting the record straight on a life dedicated to fighting segregation.

The Story Behind the Honor

Section 2 of the bill reads like a history lesson, detailing why Mulholland deserves this recognition. Growing up in the South, she became an early and persistent activist, inspired by the stark inequality she witnessed. She was one of the first White students to join the sit-in movement in Durham after the famous Greensboro protest, leading to her first arrest. She then joined the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and participated in the 1961 CORE Freedom Rides. This led to her being arrested in Jackson, Mississippi, and spending over 60 days in the notorious Parchman Penitentiary, including time on death row, simply for challenging segregated interstate travel.

Crucially, after her release, she became the first full-time White student at the historically Black Tougaloo College and continued her direct action, including the famous 1963 Woolworth’s sit-in where she and others were nonviolently assaulted but refused to fight back. The bill emphasizes her commitment to non-violence and the extreme personal risks she took, which included being targeted by the KKK. This award is Congress’s way of acknowledging her decades of work, which continued through her later career as an educator and civil rights ambassador.

How the Medal Gets Made and Paid For

Section 3 directs the Secretary of the Treasury to strike the Congressional Gold Medal, complete with appropriate designs, emblems, and words. The medal will be presented by the Speaker of the House and the President pro tempore of the Senate. The bill clarifies that the gold medal will go to Mulholland herself, or, if she is unable to receive it, to her son, Loki Mulholland.

This is where the administrative details kick in (Sections 4, 5, and 6). To ensure this commemorative act is cost-neutral, the bill authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to create and sell bronze duplicates of the medal. The price of these duplicates must be set high enough to cover all manufacturing costs—labor, materials, dies, and overhead. All proceeds from the sale of these duplicates must be deposited back into the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund, which is also the fund authorized to cover the initial costs of striking the medals. Essentially, the public sale of collector’s items funds the recognition, meaning no new general appropriations are needed. The medals are also officially classified as “national medals” and “numismatic items,” which dictates how they are handled and sold under federal law.