Two congressmen want to award a Congressional Gold Medal to Simeon Booker

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Two congressmen introduced legislation to award a Congressional Gold Medal to Simeon Booker Jr., who grew up in Youngstown and became a groundbreaking journalist, to recognize his achievements.

“I couldn’t think of a more worthy American than Simeon Booker to be awarded Congress’ highest honor, the Congressional Gold Medal,” said U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th, who co-sponsored legislation Monday with U.S. Rep. David Joyce of Russell, R-14th.

Booker’s “long and illustrious career in journalism and his work to advance the civil-rights movement has forever changed our nation for the better,” Ryan said. “Simeon Booker has devoted his life’s work to breaking barriers and changing the hearts and minds of all those he touched through his writing. He is a true American hero.”

“Simeon Booker dedicated his career to covering the civil-rights movement and achieved many firsts in his field, including becoming the first black reporter to win a Newspaper Guild Award and the first full-time black reporter at The Washington Post,” Joyce added. “We’re proud that Booker started his journalism career in Youngstown, and believe he’s a worthy recipient of the Congressional Gold Medal.”

Booker will receive an honorary doctor of letters degree from Youngstown State University and be the fall commencement speaker at 2 p.m. Sunday in Beeghly Center.

Booker wrote game stories from local black baseball leagues for The Vindicator while in college.

Booker received the prestigious Nieman Fellowship in journalism at Harvard University for the 1950-51 academic year, and was hired by the Post in 1952. After two years there, he left to join Johnson Publishing, covering the civil-rights movement in the Deep South for Jet and Ebony magazines.

The story of his life covering freedom rides, marches and other historic events chronicling the civil-rights movement are in “Shocking the Conscience,” a book published earlier this year co-written by his wife, Carol, a retired attorney and journalist.