Congress honors Black historian who built America's African diaspora archive
H.R. 1817 — Arturo Alfonso Schomburg Congressional Gold Medal Act · Filed by Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) · 12 cosponsors · Introduced Mar 3, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill authorizes Congress to award a posthumous Congressional Gold Medal to Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, a pioneering Black historian and archivist who collected over 10,000 items documenting African and African American history during the Harlem Renaissance. The medal will be struck by the U.S. Mint, displayed at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture, and duplicate bronze versions may be sold to cover costs.
Why we flagged it
This is a straightforward Congressional Gold Medal bill honoring a deceased historical figure. It contains no policy changes, regulatory provisions, or substantive legislation—only authorization for a commemorative medal and its display.
Who it affects
This is a commemorative honor for a deceased historical figure whose life's work directly benefited public knowledge and cultural understanding. The medal costs are minimal and offset by bronze duplicate sales; the primary civic value is public recognition of an important contributor to American intellectual and cultural history.
Named in the bill
Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, U.S. Mint, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of African American History and Culture, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
Where it stands
12 cosponsors: 12 Democrats.
- Mar 3, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Mar 3, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on House Administration and House Committee on Financial Services · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on House Administration…”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the full bill text on Jun 8, 2026; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Congress honors Black historian who built America's African diaspora archive” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr1817 Report an error
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