Adam Clayton Powell Junior

Adam Clayton Powell

Adam Clayton Powell Jr. (born November 29, 1908 in New Haven , Connecticut , †  April 4, 1972 in Miami , Florida ) was an American politician and civil rights activist . Between 1945 and 1971 he represented New York State in the US House of Representatives with one interruption . He was the first African American to be elected to Congress for New York .

Career

Adam Powell attended public schools in New York City . In 1930 he graduated from Colgate University in Hamilton . He then studied until 1932 at Columbia University in New York City and then until 1934 at Shaw University in Raleigh ( North Carolina ). Powell also served as a clergyman in the Baptist Church. He campaigned for the rights of his fellow Afro-American citizens. Politically, he joined the Democratic Party . In 1941 he was elected to New York City Council. He was also a co-founder of the National Negro Congress . Powell also worked as a journalist as a newspaper publisher. Between 1932 and 1940 he was a full-time teacher at Columbia University Extension School . During the Second World War he worked from 1942 to 1944 for the consumer division of the Price Administration ( Consumer Division, Office of Price Administration ). At the same time he was a member of the civil defense department of the New York borough of Manhattan .

In the 1944 congressional election , Powell was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC in the 22nd  constituency of New York , where he succeeded Walter A. Lynch on January 3, 1945 . After eleven re-elections, he could remain in Congress until his temporary expulsion on February 28, 1967. During this time the end of the Second World War, the beginning of the Cold War , the Korean War and, domestically, the civil rights movement fell . In addition, the Vietnam War began at that time . Powell's main focus was on helping his fellow Afro-American people. He also campaigned for the freedom movements of many countries in Africa and Asia . In 1961 he became chairman of the Education and Labor Committee. Since the mid-1960s he has been increasingly criticized for poorly managing his committee's finances. He was also charged with the high cost of traveling abroad at the expense of the state and his absence from many of his committee meetings. He said this was normal because every other congressman and protection chair would do the same. In 1963 he was temporarily arrested for failing to pay a fine for defamation.

In January 1967, Powell was removed from office as chairman of the Education and Labor Committee. On February 28 of this year he was expelled from Congress by 307 votes to 116. However, he managed to win back his mandate directly in the by-elections that became necessary as a result. This enabled him to take his old seat again on April 11, 1967. After further re-elections he was finally able to stay in the US House of Representatives until January 3, 1971. There he had changed his constituency several times since 1953. Until 1953 he represented the 22nd, then until 1963 the 16th and from then the 18th district.

In 1970 Adam Powell was no longer nominated for re-election by his party; he was succeeded by Charles B. Rangel . He died in Miami on April 4, 1972.

He was married to the pianist and singer Hazel Scott . In 1955, he directed Charlie Parker's funeral at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem.

Web links

Commons : Adam Clayton Powell  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Adam Clayton Powell in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• Adam Clayton Powell in the nndb (English)
• Biography (English)

predecessor	Office	successor
Walter A. Lynch	United States House Representative for New York (22nd constituency) January 3, 1945 - January 3, 1953	Sidney A. Fine
James J. Murphy	United States House of Representatives for New York (16th constituency) January 3, 1953 - January 3, 1963	John M. Murphy
Alfred E. Santangelo	United States House Representative for New York (18th constituency) January 3, 1963 - January 3, 1971	Charles B. Rangel