Adam Clayton Powell Jr.

Harlem pastor and first Black congressman from the Northeast whose exclusion test reached the Supreme Court.

Overview

Powell, minister of Abyssinian Baptist Church, won election in 1944 as the first Black member from New York and the Northeast. He used procedural improvisation, including the Powell amendments tying federal funds to nondiscrimination, to attach civil rights riders to school and aid bills, and as chairman of Education and Labor from 1961 he presided over a flood of education and labor legislation. Controversy over travel and payroll led the House to exclude him in 1967, but the Supreme Court in Powell v. McCormack ruled the House could not exclude a duly elected member beyond constitutional qualifications. He served until 1971.