Paul Laurence Dunbar Commemorative Coin Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 8227 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 8227 To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint commemorative coins in recognition of Paul Laurence Dunbar. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 9, 2026 Ms. Norton introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint commemorative coins in recognition of Paul Laurence Dunbar. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Paul Laurence Dunbar Commemorative Coin Act''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. The Congress finds that-- (1) Paul Laurence Dunbar was one of the first influential African-American poets in American literature, writing such classics as ``Majors and Minors'' and ``Lyrics of Lowly Life'', and composing the lyrics to ``In Dahomey'', the first all- African-American musical produced on Broadway; (2) Paul Laurence Dunbar was born on June 27, 1872, to freed slaves Joshua and Matilda Murphy Dunbar; (3) Paul Laurence Dunbar first published a series of poems at age 14 in the Dayton Herald; (4) in 1893, Paul Laurence Dunbar published a series of poems in a work entitled ``Oak and Ivy''; (5) by the late 1890s, Paul Laurence Dunbar had become a prominent author, having had his poems published in such major national newspapers and magazines as The New York Times; (6) over his career, Paul Laurence Dunbar published more collections of poems, short stories, and novels; (7) Paul Laurence Dunbar died on February 9, 1906, at 33 years of age; (8) Paul Laurence Dunbar Senior High School (hereafter referred to as Dunbar High School) was established in the District of Columbi