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Congressional Gold Medal.com |
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Congressional Gold Medal Nominees
Elizabeth and Roy Peratrovich
Congressional Gold Medal to honor Elizabeth and Roy Peratrovich
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
(Senate -
October 06, 2004
) [Congressional Record Page: S10573] By
Ms.
MURKOWSKI
(for herself,
Mr.
STEVENS
,
Mr.
CAMPBELL
, and
Mr.
INOUYE): S. 2900. A bill to authorize the President to posthumously award a gold medal on behalf of Congress to Elizabeth Wanamaker Peratrovich and Roy Peratrovich in recognition of their outstanding and enduring contributions to civil rights and dignity of the Native peoples of Alaska and the Nation; to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I was proud to join with my colleagues and tens of thousands of America 's first peoples, including a substantial contingent of Alaska Natives, in participating in the opening ceremonies for the National Museum of the American Indian. I don't have to tell you what a special week this was for the first peoples of America and particularly for my Alaska Native people. We take pride in our new National Museum of the American Indian and all that it represents. First and foremost, it represents a commitment on the part of the American people that the substantial contributions of
American Indians,
Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians be preserved in perpetuity in a prominent location adjacent to the U.S. Capitol. It represents a commitment that the Native experience will not be lost to history. Today, I want to share with the Senate a piece of Native history that is very significant to the Native people of Alaska and indeed, the first peoples of our entire Nation. It is the story of a Tlingit couple,
Roy and Elizabeth Peratrovich. Roy and Elizabeth are to the Native peoples of Alaska what
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and
Rosa Parks are to
African Americans. Everybody knows about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks, but hardly anyone outside the State of Alaska knows about Roy and Elizabeth Peratrovich. That is going to change today. Elizabeth was born in 1911, about 17 years before Dr. King. She was born in Petersburg , AK . After college she married Roy Peratrovich, a Tlingit from Klawock , AK ; and the couple had three children. Roy and Elizabeth moved to Juneau . They were excited about buying a new home. But they could not buy the house that they wanted because they were Native. They could not enter the stores or restaurants they wanted. Outside some of these stores and restaurants there were signs that read ``No Natives Allowed.'' History has also recorded a sign that read ``No Dogs or Indians Allowed.'' On
December 30, 1941 , following the invasion of
Pearl Harbor, Elizabeth and Roy wrote to Alaska 's Territorial Governor: In the present emergency our Native boys are being called upon to defend our beloved country. There are no distinctions being made there. Yet when we patronized good business establishments we are told in most cases that Natives are not allowed. The proprietor of one business, an inn, does not seem to realize that our Native boys are just as willing to lay down their lives to protect the freedom he enjoys. Instead he shows his appreciation by having a `No Natives Allowed' sign on his door. In that letter Elizabeth and Roy noted: We were shocked when the Jews were discriminated against in Germany . Stories were told of public places having signs, ``No Jews Allowed.'' All freedom loving people were horrified at what was being practiced in Germany , yet it is being practiced in our own country. In 1943, the Alaska Legislature, at the behest of Roy and Elizabeth considered an anti-discrimination law. It was defeated. But Roy and Elizabeth were not defeated. Two years later, in 1945, the anti-discrimination measure was back before the Alaska Legislature. It passed the lower house, but met with stiff opposition in the Alaska Senate. One by one Senators took to the floor to argue against the mixing of the races. A church leader testified that it would take thirty to one hundred years before Alaska Natives would reach the equality of the white man. Elizabeth Peratrovich rose from the gallery and said she would like to be heard. She was recognized, as was the custom of the day. In a quiet, dignified and steady voice she said, ``I would not have expected that I, who am barely out of savagery, would have to remind gentleman with five thousand years of recorded history behind them of our
Bill of Rights.'' She was asked by a Senator if she thought the proposed bill would eliminate discrimination, Elizabeth Peratrovich queried in rebuttal, ``Do your laws against larceny and even murder prevent these crimes? No law will eliminate crimes but at least you legislators can assert to the world that you recognize the evil of the present situation and speak your intent to help us overcome discrimination.'' When she finished, there was a wild burst of applause from the gallery and the Senate floor alike. The territorial Senate passed the bill by a vote of eleven to five. On
February 16, 1945 , Alaska had an anti-discrimination law that provided all citizens of the territory of Alaska are entitled to full and equal enjoyment of public accommodations. Following passage of the anti-discrimination law, Roy and Elizabeth could be seen dancing at the Baranof Hotel, one of Juneau 's finest. They danced among people they didn't know. They danced in a place where the day before they were not welcome. There is an important lesson to be learned from the battles of Elizabeth and Roy Peratrovich. Even in defeat, they knew that change would come [Congressional Record Page: S10574] from their participation in our political system. They were not discouraged by their defeat in 1943. They came back fighting and enjoyed the fruits of their victory two years later. Nineteen years before the United States Congress prohibited discrimination in public accommodations in the
Civil Rights Act of 1964; eighteen years before Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke of his dream on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial-- Alaska had a civil rights law. Elizabeth would not live to see the United States adopt the same law she brought to Alaska in 1945. She passed away in 1958 at the age of 47. The State of Alaska has acknowledged Elizabeth Peratrovich's contribution to history by designating February 16 of each year as Elizabeth Peratrovich Day. It has also designated one of the public galleries in the Alaska House of Representatives as the Elizabeth Peratrovich Gallery. But what about Roy ? Why has his role not been recognized? Roy Peratrovich passed away in 1989 at age 81. He died 9 days before the first Elizabeth Peratrovich Day was observed in the State of Alaska . Perhaps it was because Roy was still alive at the time this honor was bestowed; it is Elizabeth that has gotten all the credit for passage of the anti-discrimination law. Members of the Peratrovich family tell me that this is not entirely unjustified because without Elizabeth 's stirring speech the anti-discrimination law would not have passed. But they also point out, as does the historical record, that Elizabeth and Roy were a focused and effective team. History should recognize that the anti-discrimination law was enacted due to the joint efforts of Roy and Elizabeth Peratrovich. I rise today to do my part toward that end. Joined by my colleague, the distinguished senior Senator from Alaska , Mr.
STEVENS, the distinguished Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Mr.
CAMPBELL and the distinguished Vice Chairman of that committee,
Mr.
INOUYE, I offer legislation to recognize the contributions of Roy and Elizabeth Peratrovich with a Congressional Gold Medal. Congressional Gold Medals have been awarded to a number of African Americans who have made contributions to the cause of civil rights, among them, Rosa Parks,
Roy Wilkins,
Dorothy Height, the
nine brave individuals who desegregated the schools of Little Rock , Arkansas and others involved in the effort to desegregate public education. As our Nation focuses on the many contributions of our first people and the challenges they have faced throughout our Nation's history with the opening of the National Museum of the American Indian, it is high time that we also acknowledge the work of American Indians, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians in the struggle for civil rights and social justice. Honoring Elizabeth and Roy Peratrovich's substantial contribution with a Congressional Gold Medal is a fine start. I ask unanimous consent that the text of the legislation be printed in the
RECORD. There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the
RECORD, as follows: S. 2900 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1.
FINDINGS. Congress makes the following findings: (1) Elizabeth Wanamaker, a Tlingit Indian, was born on
July 4, 1911 , in Petersburg , Alaska . (2) Elizabeth married Roy Peratrovich, a Tlingit Indian from Klawock Alaska , on
December 15, 1931 . (3) In 1941, the couple moved to Juneau , Alaska . (4) Roy and Elizabeth Peratrovich discovered that they could not purchase a home in the section of Juneau in which they desired to live due to discrimination against Alaska Natives. (5) In the early 1940s, there were reports that some businesses in Southeast Alaska posted signs reading ``No Natives Allowed''. (6) Roy , as Grand President of the Alaska Native Brotherhood and Elizabeth, as Grand President of the Alaska Native Sisterhood, petitioned the Territorial Governor and the Territorial Legislature to enact a law prohibiting discrimination against Alaska Natives in public accommodations. (7) Rebuffed by the Territorial Legislature in 1943, they again sought passage of an antidiscrimination law in 1945. (8) On
February 8, 1945 , as the Alaska Territorial Senate debated the anti-discrimination law, Elizabeth, who was sitting in the visitor's gallery of the Senate, was recognized to present her views on the measure. (9) The eloquent and dignified testimony given by Elizabeth that day is widely credited for passage of the antidiscrimination law. (10) On
February 16, 1945 , Territorial Governor Ernest Gruening signed into law an act prohibiting discrimination against all citizens within the jurisdiction of the Territory of Alaska in access to public accommodations and imposing a penalty on any person who shall display any printed or written sign indicating discrimination on racial grounds of such full and equal enjoyment. (11) Nineteen years before Congress enacted the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and 18 years before the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his ``
I have a Dream'' speech, one of America's first antidiscrimination laws was enacted in the Territory of Alaska, thanks to the efforts of Elizabeth and Roy Peratrovich. (12) Since 1989, the State of Alaska has observed Elizabeth Peratrovich Day on February 16 of each year and a visitor's gallery of the Alaska House of Representatives in the Alaska State Capitol has been named for Elizabeth Peratrovich.
SEC. 2.
CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. (a)
PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.--The President is authorized, on behalf of the Congress, to posthumously award a gold medal of appropriate design to Elizabeth Wanamaker Peratrovich and Roy Peratrovich, in recognition of their outstanding and enduring contributions to the civil rights and dignity of the Native peoples of Alaska and the Nation. (b)
DESIGN AND STRIKING.--For the purpose of the presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (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, and 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.
NATIONAL MEDALS. The medals struck under this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.
SEC. 5.
FUNDING. (a)
AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS.--There is authorized to be charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund such sum as may be appropriated to pay for the cost of the medals authorized by this Act. (b)
PROCEEDS OF SALE.--Amounts received from the sale of duplicate bronze medals under section 3 shall be deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
Senator Lisa Murkowski swearing in on January 7, 2003 with husband Verne Martell and Vice President
Dick Cheney.
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