Bill Text: PA HR152 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Introduced


Bill Title: Honoring Jacobus Franciscus "Jim" Thorpe by designating May 21, 2011, as "Jim Thorpe Day" in Pennsylvania.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 51-18)

Status: (Passed) 2011-05-09 - Adopted (195-0) [HR152 Detail]

Download: Pennsylvania-2011-HR152-Introduced.html

  

 

    

PRINTER'S NO.  1300

  

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

  

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

No.

152

Session of

2011

  

  

INTRODUCED BY HEFFLEY, O'NEILL, KNOWLES, BEAR, BISHOP, BOYD, BRADFORD, BROOKS, CALTAGIRONE, CLYMER, CONKLIN, D. COSTA, CREIGHTON, DALEY, DAY, DeLUCA, DiGIROLAMO, DONATUCCI, EVERETT, FARRY, FLECK, GABLER, GEIST, GEORGE, GILLEN, GILLESPIE, GINGRICH, GOODMAN, GRELL, GROVE, HAHN, HENNESSEY, HESS, HICKERNELL, JOHNSON, KILLION, KIRKLAND, KORTZ, MAHER, MAJOR, MALONEY, MANN, MARSICO, MILLARD, MOUL, MURT, MUSTIO, PAYNE, PICKETT, QUIGLEY, RAPP, RAVENSTAHL, READSHAW, REICHLEY, ROCK, ROSS, SANTONI, SAYLOR, SCAVELLO, SCHRODER, STERN, STEVENSON, SWANGER, THOMAS, TOOHIL, VEREB, VULAKOVICH, WATSON AND BLOOM, MARCH 28, 2011

  

  

INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35, MARCH 28, 2011  

  

  

  

A RESOLUTION

  

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Honoring Jacobus Franciscus "Jim" Thorpe by designating May 21,

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2011, as "Jim Thorpe Day" in Pennsylvania.

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WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe was born on May 28, 1888, and was raised

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as a member of the Native American Sac and Fox Nation; and

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WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe was the grandson of the nation's chief,

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Black Hawk, and was given the native name of Bright Path; and

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WHEREAS, The accomplishments and legacy of Jim Thorpe were

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not only part of his great "bright path" but have also been an

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inspiration to people worldwide; and

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WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe overcame great tragedy in his youth to

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attend the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, beginning in 1907;

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and

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WHEREAS, While at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, Jim

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Thorpe was coached by the legendary football coach Glenn Scobey

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"Pop" Warner and was awarded All-American honors in 1911 and

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1912; and

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WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe honorably represented the Sac and Fox

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Nation and the United States of America at the 1912 Olympic

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games in Stockholm, Sweden; and

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WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe was the first United States athlete to

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win the pentathlon and the decathlon in one Olympic year; and

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WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe's athletic feats and the worldwide

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publicity established the viability of the modern Olympic Games;

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and

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WHEREAS, To honor him for his gold medals in the pentathlon

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and decathlon, Jim Thorpe was awarded gifts by King Gustav V of

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Sweden and Czar Nicholas II of Russia; and

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WHEREAS, A ticker-tape parade was held in New York City upon

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Jim Thorpe's return to the United States from Sweden; and

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WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe's Olympic medals were revoked after he

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was found to have violated strict rules regarding amateurism in

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force at the time; and

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WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe's medals were not reinstated until 1982,

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30 years after his death, when the International Olympic

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Committee recognized the improper application of the

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disqualification procedures; and

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WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe had an illustrious professional career

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after the Olympics, in which he played baseball for the New York

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Giants, the Cincinnati Reds and the Boston Braves, football for

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the Canton Bulldogs and basketball for two years after his

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retirement from professional football; and

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WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe is considered one of football's founding

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fathers as a result of his career as a professional football

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player with the Canton Bulldogs, one of the four teams that make

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up the American Professional Football Association, which later

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became the National Football League; and

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WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe, while coaching and playing for the

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Canton Bulldogs, further supported the sport of football by

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becoming the American Professional Football Association's first

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president; and

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WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe was voted America's Greatest All-Around

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Male Athlete, was chosen as the greatest football player of the

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half-century in 1950 by an Associated Press poll of

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sportswriters and was named the American Broadcasting Company's

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Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Century, which earned him

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the honor of having his picture on a special-edition Wheaties

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cereal box; and

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WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe was named the Greatest American Football

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Player in history in a 1977 national poll conducted by Sport

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Magazine; and

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WHEREAS, In being inducted into the Football Hall of Fame in

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1963, Jim Thorpe was recognized for his dedication to the sport;

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and

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WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe served as a namesake for the Jim Thorpe

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Award established in 1986 for the best defensive back in college

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football; and

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WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe's final resting place is in Jim Thorpe,

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Carbon County; and

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WHEREAS, The life of Jim Thorpe is not only defined by his

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athletic aptitude, but by his legacy of inspiring people around

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the world to light the way of their own "bright paths";

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therefore be it

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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives designate May 21,

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2011, as "Jim Thorpe Day" in Pennsylvania.

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