Jackie Robinson 1997 $ 5 Gold Coin
Designers : William Cousins ( obverse ) and Jim Peed ( reverse )
Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball when he was recruited to play second base for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947 . He not only integrated American baseball , but he used his notoriety to fight for equal rights for Black people . In 1962 , Robinson was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame .
Rosa Parks 1999 Bronze Medal
Designers : Al Maletsky ( obverse ) and John Mercanti ( reverse )
Rosa Parks was a civil rights icon whose refusal to give up her seat to a white person and move to the back of the bus fueled the Montgomery Bus Boycott , the fight against Jim Crow segregation and the national Civil Rights Movement . Parks was a life-long activist who fought for justice and against racism and discrimination . Her contributions are also celebrated by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Commemorative Silver Dollar coin .
Brown v . Board of Education 2004 Bronze Medal
Designers : Charles L . Vickers ( obverse ) and Donna Weaver ( reverse )
Brown v . Board of Education of Topeka , Kansas , was a US Supreme Court ruling that overturned Plessy v . Ferguson as unconstitutional , as its separate but equal doctrine denied Black students the equal protection under the law and due process of law guaranteed by the 14th Amendment . This was a consolidated ruling of five cases from the states of Kansas , South Carolina , Virginia , Delaware and the District of Columbia that were appealed to the US Supreme Court . These cases were brought by the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and argued in state courts by Thurgood Marshall . The ruling was a unanimous decision written by Chief Justice Earl Warren .
Dr . Dorothy Height 2004 Bronze Medal
Designers : Donna Weaver ( obverse ) and John Mercanti ( reverse )
The National Council of Negro Women ( NCNW ) national headquarters building is named after Dorothy I . Height , who led the NCNW as president for 40 years . In this capacity , Height became one of the most important civil rights leaders in the country . As the only female member of the Council for United Civil Rights leadership , she worked alongside the “ Big Six ” civil rights leaders and was one of the organizers of the March on Washington .
22 FINANCIAL HISTORY | Winter 2017 | www . MoAF . org