Bill Clay | |
|---|---|
.webp) Official portrait,c. 1980s | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMissouri's1st district | |
| In office January 3, 1969 – January 3, 2001 | |
| Preceded by | Frank M. Karsten |
| Succeeded by | Lacy Clay |
| Personal details | |
| Born | William Lacy Clay (1931-04-30)April 30, 1931 St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
| Died | July 16, 2025(2025-07-16) (aged 94) Adelphi, Maryland, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3, includingLacy |
| Education | Saint Louis University (BS) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch/service | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1953–1955 |
William Lacy Clay Sr. (April 30, 1931 – July 16, 2025)[a] was an American politician fromMissouri who served as a member of theUnited States House of Representatives representingMissouri's 1st congressional district containing portions ofSt. Louis for 32 years from 1969 to 2001. He was a member of theDemocratic Party and one of the 13 co-founding members of theCongressional Black Caucus, and is also acknowledged for having proposed transforming the group into a formal nonpartisan Congressional caucus.
Clay was born inSt. Louis on April 30, 1931, the son of Luella S. (Hyatt) and Irving Charles Clay.[5] He graduated fromSaint Louis University in 1953. Clay served in theUnited States Army from 1953 to 1955, and was aSt. Louis alderman from 1959 to 1964. Clay served 105 days in jail for participating in theJefferson Bank and Trust Co.civil rights demonstration in 1963. Clay organized, and was among those who led, this protest as well.[1][6] Prior to enteringCongress, Clay held jobs first as areal-estate broker and later as a labor coordinator. He worked for the union of St. Louis city employees from 1961 to 1964 and then with a steamfitters union local until 1967.[citation needed]
Clay married Carol Ann Johnson in 1953. They had three children, includingLacy Clay Jr., who would be elected in 2000 to succeed his father in the U.S. House of Representatives.[7][8] The Clay family were parishioners at the predominantly black St. Nicholas Catholic Church in St. Louis. On February 16, 2025, Carol Clay died at the age of 89.[9]
Clay died in July 2025, at the age of 94, at the home of one of his daughters inAdelphi, Maryland.[a]
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Clay was elected to theUnited States House of Representatives in1968. Along with fellow African American lawmakers such as former Reps.Shirley Chisholm (D-NY) andLouis Stokes (D-OH), Clay was one of three newcomer members of Congress in 1969 who helped co-found of theBlack Congressional Caucus predecessor group the "Democratic Select Committee" at behest ofCharles Diggs (D-MI).[10][11] During a meeting between caucus members on February 2, 1971, Clay would help lay for the foundation for the creation of the Congressional Black Caucus when he proposed transforming the Democratic Select Committee into a formal nonpartisan caucus for African American U.S. Congress members.[10] He became an advocate forenvironmentalism,labor issues, andsocial justice. Clay voted for theFamily and Medical Leave Act of 1993. From 1991 until theDemocrats lost control of Congress in 1995, Clay chaired the House Committee on the Post Office and Civil Service. In 2000, he announced his retirement from the House, and his son,Lacy, succeeded him.
In 1996, the William L. Clay Center for Molecular Electronics (now the Center for Nanoscience) was dedicated in his honor on the campus of theUniversity of Missouri–St. Louis.
Clay was also the founder of the William L. Clay Scholarship and Research Fund, which awards college scholarships to high-school seniors living in Missouri's First Congressional District. The Fund, which is a 501(c)3 organization, has awarded scholarships since 1985.
ThePoplar Street Bridge, which connects St. Louis, Missouri, and the town ofEast St. Louis, Illinois, was renamedCongressman William L. Clay Bridge on October 7, 2013.[12]
William L. Clay has a star and biographical plaque on theSt. Louis Walk of Fame.[13]
Clay wrote several works of non-fiction.
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMissouri's 1st congressional district 1969–2001 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theHouse Civil Service Committee 1991–1995 | Position abolished |
| Preceded by | Ranking Member of theHouse Education Committee 1995–2001 | Succeeded by |
| Post Office and Post Roads (1808–1947) |  | |
|---|---|---|
| (Reform in the) Civil Service* (1893–1947) | ||
| Post Office and Civil Service (1947–1995) | ||
| Note | *Name shortened fromReform in the Civil Service toCivil Service in 1925. | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
