PRINTER'S NO. 3706
No. 536 Session of 2002
INTRODUCED BY McCALL, ALLEN, ARGALL, M. BAKER, BARRAR, BEBKO-
JONES, BELARDI, BISHOP, BROWNE, BUNT, CALTAGIRONE, CAPPELLI,
CIVERA, CLARK, CLYMER, L. I. COHEN, M. COHEN, COLAFELLA,
CORRIGAN, COSTA, COY, CREIGHTON, CRUZ, DALLY, DeWEESE,
DiGIROLAMO, DONATUCCI, BROOKS, D. EVANS, J. EVANS, FAIRCHILD,
FICHTER, FORCIER, GEIST, GEORGE, GRUCELA, HARHAI, HASAY,
HERMAN, HERSHEY, HESS, JOSEPHS, KIRKLAND, LEDERER, LEH,
LESCOVITZ, MAHER, MAJOR, MANDERINO, MANN, MARKOSEK, MARSICO,
MAYERNIK, McGILL, McILHATTAN, McNAUGHTON, MUNDY, NAILOR,
PALLONE, PETRARCA, PIPPY, PISTELLA, ROBERTS, ROBINSON,
ROHRER, ROONEY, ROSS, RUBLEY, SAMUELSON, SATHER, SAYLOR,
SCHRODER, SCHULER, SEMMEL, SHANER, B. SMITH, SOLOBAY,
STABACK, STURLA, SURRA, TANGRETTI, E. Z. TAYLOR, TIGUE,
TRAVAGLIO, WANSACZ, WASHINGTON, WATSON, J. WILLIAMS,
WOJNAROSKI, G. WRIGHT, YOUNGBLOOD AND ZUG, APRIL 17, 2002
INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35,
APRIL 17, 2002
A RESOLUTION
1 Proclaiming May 18, 2002, as "James Francis Thorpe Day" in
2 Pennsylvania.
3 WHEREAS, James Francis (Jim) Thorpe was born on May 18, 1888;
4 and
5 WHEREAS, As an amateur in track and field, Jim Thorpe won the
6 pentathlon and the decathlon at the Amateur Athletic Union's
7 National Championship Trials in Boston in May 1912, prior to the
8 Olympics; and
9 WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe was the first United States athlete to
10 win the decathlon and the only athlete in the world to win both
11 the decathlon and the pentathlon during one Olympic year; and
1 WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe's amateur football record was established
2 when he was a student at the Carlisle Indian School and was
3 chosen as halfback to Walter Camp's First All-American Team in
4 1911 and 1912; and
5 WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe was a founding father of professional
6 football, being the first elected president of the American
7 Professional Football Association, now the National Football
8 League, and was a drawing card in the growth and development of
9 professional football who gave the sport credibility; and
10 WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe played major league baseball with the New
11 York Giants, the Cincinnati Reds and the Boston Braves, ending
12 the 1919 season with a .327 average; and
13 WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe is the only American athlete to excel as
14 an amateur and a professional in three major sports, track and
15 field, football and baseball; and
16 WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe was voted America's Greatest All-Around
17 Male Athlete and was chosen as the greatest football player of
18 the half-century in 1950 by an Associated Press poll of
19 sportswriters; and
20 WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe was named the Greatest American Football
21 Player in history in a 1977 national poll conducted by Sport
22 Magazine; and
23 WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe was enshrined in the National Indian Hall
24 of Fame, the Helms Professional Football Hall of Fame, the
25 Professional Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, the National
26 Track and Field Hall of Fame and the Pennsylvania and Oklahoma
27 Halls of Fame; and
28 WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe was recognized by ESPN as Athlete of the
29 20th Century; and
30 WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe's final resting place is in the Borough
20020H0536R3706 - 2 -
1 of Jim Thorpe, Carbon County, Pennsylvania; therefore be it
2 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives proclaim May 18,
3 2002, as "James Francis Thorpe Day" in Pennsylvania.
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