[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7385 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7385
To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Edwin Cole ``Ed'' Bearss, in
recognition of his contributions to preservation of American Civil War
history and continued efforts to bring our Nation's history alive for
new generations through his interpretive storytelling.
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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 26, 2020
Mr. Connolly introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Financial Services
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A BILL
To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Edwin Cole ``Ed'' Bearss, in
recognition of his contributions to preservation of American Civil War
history and continued efforts to bring our Nation's history alive for
new generations through his interpretive storytelling.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Edwin Cole ``Ed'' Bearss was born June 26, 1923, in
Billings, Montana, to Omar and Virginia Bearss.
(2) During a 40-year career with the National Park Service,
Mr. Bearss distinguished himself as one of America's preeminent
historians, particularly in the field of the Civil War, not
only through his work to preserve the places in which our
Nation's history was forged but also through his captivating
interpretive storytelling about the people and events that
shaped those places.
(3) Mr. Bearss' lifelong passion for Civil War history was
kindled during his youth. Even at an early age, Mr. Bearss
demonstrated a knack for committing facts to memory, a skill
that helped him win school contests in history, current events,
and geography.
(4) He graduated high school in May 1941 and the following
year joined the U.S. Marine Corps, serving with the 3rd Marine
Raider Battalion during the invasion of Guadalcanal and the
Russell Islands. He was badly wounded in gunfire at ``Suicide
Creek'', Cape Gloucester, New Britain, while serving with the
7th Regiment, 1st Marine Division.
(5) Upon returning home, Mr. Bearss attended Georgetown
University, obtaining a bachelor's degree in Foreign Service
studies, and later attended Indiana University, earning a
master's degree in history.
(6) It was during a fortuitous visit to the Shiloh National
Military Park in Tennessee, on a tour with the park historian,
where the seeds were planted for Mr. Bearss' future career with
the National Park Service.
(7) In 1955, he landed a job as park historian at the
National Battlefield Park in Vicksburg, Mississippi, where his
research helped fill in missing pieces of Civil War history.
None were more significant than the discovery of the USS Cairo,
a long-lost Union ironclad gunboat sunk by Confederate
submarine torpedoes in 1862 that was buried in the mud of the
Yazoo River. Mr. Bearss later authored a book on the ``sinking
and salvage'' of the ironclad.
(8) It was during his tenure at Vicksburg that he met his
wife, Margie, a teacher who shared Mr. Bearss' love of history.
They had three children, Sara, Cole, and Jenny.
(9) Mr. Bearss became the National Park Service's chief
historian in 1981. Following his retirement in 1994, he was
recognized with the title Chief Historian Emeritus, a fitting
title as his research and recounting of our Nation's history
continues to this day.
(10) Whenever possible, he travels to our Nation's Civil
War battlefields, helping to preserve the places where history
happened and make those places come alive as a public
historian. He once said, ``You can't describe a battlefield
unless you walk it.''. Anyone who has spent time with Mr.
Bearss touring a battlefield, sometimes braving the elements,
enthralled by his prodigious tales regards him as a National
Treasure. His unique chronicling of our Nation's history has
been described as a ``transcendental experience'' of ``Homeric
monologues'' punctuated by ``colorful, vivid images''. Mr.
Bearss himself has been described as a cross between ``a good-
natured platoon sergeant and Walter Cronkite''. He lectures
with his eye closed, so he can ``see'' the history better, he
once said.
(11) Mr. Bearss has received multiple honors for his
contributions to the preservation of our Nation's history: the
Harry S. Truman Award in 1961 for Meritorious Service in the
field of Civil War history, Man of the Year at Vicksburg in
1963, inducted a member of the Company of Military Historians
in 1964, the Nevins-Freeman Award from the Chicago Civil War
Roundtable in 1980, the Department of the Interior's
Distinguished Service Award in 1983, and a commendation from
the Secretary of the Army in 1985. The Secretary of the
Interior at the time, James Watt, called Mr. Bearss
``unquestionably the most productive historian in the history
of the National Park Service''.
(12) Mr. Bearss continued to tour the country well into his
later years, visiting battlefields and Civil War organizations,
to keep America's history fresh in the minds of future
generations.
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.
(a) Presentation Authorized.--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 of appropriate design to Edwin Cole ``Ed''
Bearss, in recognition of his contributions to preservation of American
Civil War history and continued efforts to bring our Nation's history
alive for new generations through his interpretive storytelling.
(b) Design and Striking.--For purposes of the presentation referred
to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in this
Act referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall strike a gold medal 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
medal struck pursuant to section 2 under such regulations as the
Secretary may prescribe, at a price sufficient to cover the cost
thereof, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and
overhead expenses, and the cost of the gold medal.
SEC. 4. STATUS OF MEDALS.
The medals struck pursuant to this Act are national medals for
purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.
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