I've been focused on World events of late, but carved out some time for another United States commemorative story...
It's a National Commemorative Medal story that would likely have been a commemorative coin story if initiated in a different era...In March 1969, Garner E. Shriver (R-KS) introduced a bill in the House of Representatives ("House"), during the 91st United States ("US") Congress, that called for the "striking of medals in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the city of Wichita, Kans."; the bill was referred to the House Committee on Banking and Currency.
The bill proposed 100,000 medals to be struck for Wichita Centennial, Inc. The bill did not specify a size (or sizes) for the medal nor for its metallic composition. It did specify, however, that the minimum order for the medals by Wichita Centennial, Inc.was 2,000 pieces. The bill's language capped the authority for the striking of the medals to December 31, 1970, but did not prohibit the Mint from starting to strike the medals in 1969 - which it did; the medals went on sale in July 1969.
How the net proceeds from the sale of the medals was not specified in the bill. Such open-endedness offered Wichita Centennial, Inc. significant flexibility in how to use the funds, but most were believed to have been used to support the Centennial celebration events the group was planning/organizing/staging.
On May 5, 1969, in an effort to move the medal bill forward in consideration of Wichita's anniversary timeline (see following Statement by Shriver), Robert Grier Stephens (D-GA) called the bill for consideration in the House and moved to suspend the rules and pass it without a Committee Report being on record.
No objection was raised to Stephens' motion, so its consideration proceeded. No objections were raised regarding the medal bill, and Representative Shriver (the bill's sponsor), entered a Statement into the Record that included:
"In July 1969, the city of Wichita, Kans., will begin a yearlong celebration of her 100th year as an incorporated community. An unprecedented program of centennial festivities will reach its climax in 1970 on the anniversary of the date, July 21, 1970, when Wichita was first incorporated as a town.
"Wichita Centennial , Inc., is an organization of citizens who believe that the 100th anniversary of the city and the year during which she crosses the threshold from her first to second century represent a rare opportunity to pay tribute to the heritage of a historic past, to evaluate the achievements of a vital present, and to acknowledge the unlimited potential offered by a challenging future."The bill was passed without issue.
Interestingly, a favorable Committee Report was received in the House on the same day, but it did not factor into the bill's consideration on the floor of the House.
The House-approved bill was sent to the Senate for its review/approval. Upon receipt, the bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Banking and Currency. The Committee issued a favorable Report that included a copy of the Treasury Department letter that stated that it had
NO objection to the medal being struck. (The Treasury was an advocate for the striking of commemorative medals vs. commemorative coins, so its stance was no surprise.)
Following the recommendation of the Committee Report, the Senate passed the Wichita bill without objection or debate. The approved bill was examined and signed in each chamber, then presented to the President for approval. US President Richard Milhous Nixon signed the Wichita Centennial medal into law on May 28, 1969.
Continue this story of the Wichita medal with Part II - The MedalFor other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, see:
Commems Collection 
Posted 03/04/2026 12:02 pm
