Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., (November 29, 1908 - April 4, 1972) was an American politician and pastor who represented Harlem, New York City, in the United States House of Representatives (1945-71). He was the first person of African-American descent elected to Congress from New York and became a powerful national politician. In 1961, after sixteen years in the House, he 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 legislation under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Following allegations of corruption, in 1967 he was excluded from his seat by Democratic Representatives-elect of the 90th Congress but he was re-elected; and he regained the seat in a 1969 United States Supreme Court ruling.