Pennsylvania HR 19: A Resolution honoring Jacobus Franciscus "Jim" Thorpe by designating May 28, 2025, as "Jim Thorpe Day" in Pennsylvania.

Bill Text

PRINTER'S NO. 251
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No. 19
Session of
2025
INTRODUCED BY HEFFLEY, VENKAT, GREINER, KENYATTA, STAATS,
PICKETT, M. MACKENZIE, MALAGARI, FREEMAN AND REICHARD,
JANUARY 23, 2025
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON TOURISM, RECREATION AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT, JANUARY 23, 2025
A RESOLUTION
Honoring Jacobus Franciscus "Jim" Thorpe by designating May 28,
2025, as "Jim Thorpe Day" in Pennsylvania.
WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe was born May 28, 1888, and was raised as
a member of the Native American Sac and Fox Nation; and
WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe was the grandson of the nation's chief,
Black Hawk, and was given the native name of Bright Path; and
WHEREAS, The accomplishments and legacy of Jim Thorpe were
not only part of his great "bright path" but have also been an
inspiration to people worldwide; and
WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe overcame great tragedy in his youth to
attend the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, beginning in 1907;
and
WHEREAS, While at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, Jim
Thorpe was coached by the legendary football coach Glenn Scobey
"Pop" Warner and was awarded All-American honors in 1911 and
1912; and
WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe honorably represented the Sac and Fox
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Nation and the United States of America at the 1912 Olympic
Games in Stockholm, Sweden; and
WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe was the first United States athlete to
win the pentathlon and the decathlon in one Olympic year; and
WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe's athletic feats and the worldwide
publicity established the viability of the modern Olympic Games;
and
WHEREAS, To honor his gold medals in the pentathlon and
decathlon, Jim Thorpe received gifts from King Gustaf V of
Sweden and Czar Nicholas II of Russia; and
WHEREAS, A ticker-tape parade was held in New York City upon
Jim Thorpe's return to the United States from Sweden; and
WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe's Olympic medals were revoked after he
was found to have violated strict rules regarding amateurism in
force at the time; and
WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe's medals were not reinstated until 1982,
30 years after his death, when the International Olympic
Committee recognized the improper application of the
disqualification procedures; and
WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe had an illustrious professional career
after the Olympics, during which he played baseball for the New
York Giants, the Cincinnati Reds and the Boston Braves, football
for the Canton Bulldogs and basketball for two years after his
retirement from professional football; and
WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe is considered one of football's founding
fathers as a result of his career as a professional football
player with the Canton Bulldogs, one of the four teams that made
up the American Professional Football Association, which later
became the National Football League; and
WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe, while coaching and playing for the
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Canton Bulldogs, further supported the sport of football by
becoming the American Professional Football Association's first
president; and
WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe was voted America's Greatest All-Around
Male Athlete, was chosen as the greatest football player of the
half-century in 1950 by an Associated Press poll of
sportswriters and was named the American Broadcasting Company's
Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Century, which earned him
the honor of having his picture on a special-edition Wheaties
cereal box; and
WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe was named the Greatest American Football
Player in history in a 1977 national poll conducted by Sport
Magazine; and
WHEREAS, Having been inducted into the Football Hall of Fame
in 1963, Jim Thorpe was recognized for his dedication to the
sport; and
WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe served as a namesake for the Jim Thorpe
Award established in 1986 for the best defensive back in college
football; and
WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe's final resting place is in Jim Thorpe,
Carbon County; and
WHEREAS, The life of Jim Thorpe is defined by his legacy of
inspiring people around the world to light the way of their own
"bright paths"; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives designate May 28,
2025, as "Jim Thorpe Day" in Pennsylvania.
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