Powell, Adam Clayton, Jr., 1908-1972

POWELL, ADAM CLAYTON, JR., a Representative from New York; born in New Haven, Conn., November 29, 1908; attended the public schools of New York City; graduated from Colgate University, Hamilton, N.Y., 1930; graduated from Columbia University, New York, N.Y., 1932; graduated from Shaw University, Raleigh, N.C., 1934; ordained minister; member of the New York, N.Y., city council, 1941; newspaper publisher and editor; journalist; instructor, Columbia University Extension School, 1932-1940; cofounder of the National Negro Congress; member of the New York state, Consumer Division, Office of Price Administration, 1942-1944; member of the Manhattan Civilian Defense 1942-1945; elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-ninth and to the ten succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1945-January 3, 1967); elected as a Democrat to the Ninetieth Congress, but was not sworn in and, pursuant to H.Res. 278, on March 1, 1967, was excluded from membership; elected as a Democrat to the Ninetieth Congress, by special election, to fill the vacancy caused by his exclusion but was not sworn in; reelected to the Ninety-first Congress (January 3, 1969-January 3, 1971); unsuccessful candidate for renomination to the Ninety-second Congress in 1970; chairman, Committee on Education and Labor (Eighty-seventh through Eighty-ninth Congresses); died on April 4, 1972, in Miami, Fla.; cremated and ashes scattered over South Bimini in the Bahamas.

<p>Adam Clayton Powell Jr. (November 29, 1908 – April 4, 1972) was a Baptist pastor and an American politician, who represented the Harlem neighborhood of New York City in the United States House of Representatives from 1945 until 1971. He was the first African-American to be elected from New York to Congress.</p>

<p>Re-elected for nearly three decades, Powell became a powerful national politician of the Democratic Party, and served as a national spokesman on civil rights and social issues. He also urged United States presidents to support emerging nations in Africa and Asia as they gained independence after colonialism.</p>

<p>In 1961, after 16 years in the House, Powell became chairman of the Education and Labor Committee, the most powerful position held by an African American in Congress. As chairman, he supported the passage of important social and civil rights legislation under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Following allegations of corruption, in 1967 Powell was excluded from his seat by Democratic Representatives-elect of the 90th United States Congress, but he was re-elected and regained the seat in the 1969 ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States in Powell v. McCormack. He lost his seat in 1970 to Charles Rangel and retired from electoral politics.</p>