View source for Bill Clay

{{Short description|American politician (1931–2025)}}
{{Similar names|William Clay (disambiguation){{!}}William Clay}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Bill Clay
| image               = Bill Clay, official black-and-white portrait (1980s).webp
| caption             = Official portrait, {{circa}} 1980s
| state               = [[Missouri]]
| district            = {{ushr|MO|1|1st}}
| term_start          = January 3, 1969
| term_end            = January 3, 2001
| predecessor         = [[Frank M. Karsten]]
| successor           = [[Lacy Clay]]
| birth_name          = William Lacy Clay
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1931|4|30}}
| birth_place         = [[St. Louis]], Missouri, U.S.
| death_date          = {{death date and age|2025|7|16|1931|4|30}}
| death_place         = [[Adelphi, Maryland]], U.S.
| party               = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| spouse              = {{marriage|Carol Ann Johnson|1953|2025|end=died}}
| children            = 3, including [[Lacy Clay|Lacy]]
| education           = [[Saint Louis University]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]])
| allegiance          =United States
| branch              = [[United States Army]]
| serviceyears        = 1953–1955
}}
'''William Lacy Clay Sr.''' (April 30, 1931 – July 16, 2025){{Efn|name = Death|Sources differed on whether Clay died on July 16<ref name = Fox2/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.stlpr.org/government-politics-issues/2025-07-17/missouri-congressman-william-lacy-clay-sr-dead|title=Bill Clay Sr., Missouri’s first Black congressman who wielded power for 32 years, dies at 94|first=Gloria S.|last=Ross|date=July 17, 2025|website=STLPR|accessdate=September 18, 2025}}</ref> or 17.<ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/government-politics/article_1782421e-e91e-11ed-a376-1b9f07761706.html|title = William L. Clay Sr., civil rights leader and Missouri's first Black congressman, dies at 94|last1 = Sorkin|first1 = Michael|last2 = Holleman|first2 = Joe|date = July 17, 2025|accessdate = July 17, 2025|newspaper = [[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/21/us/william-l-clay-dead.html|title = William L. Clay, Missouri's First Black Congressman, Dies at 94|last = Stout|first = David|date = July 21, 2025|accessdate = July 21, 2025|newspaper = [[The New York Times]]|url-access = limited}}</ref>}} was an American politician from [[Missouri]] who served as a member of the [[United States House of Representatives]] representing [[Missouri's 1st congressional district]] containing portions of [[St. Louis]] for 32 years from 1969 to 2001. He was a member of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] and one of the 13 co-founding members of the [[Congressional Black Caucus]], and is also acknowledged for having proposed transforming the group into a formal nonpartisan Congressional caucus.

==Early life and career==
Clay was born in [[St. Louis]] on April 30, 1931, the son of Luella S. (Hyatt) and Irving Charles Clay.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~battle/genealogy/reps/clay.htm|title=Lacy Clay ancestry|website=freepages.rootsweb.com}}</ref> He graduated from [[Saint Louis University]] in 1953. Clay served in the [[United States Army]] from 1953 to 1955, and was a [[St. Louis Board of Aldermen|St. Louis alderman]] from 1959 to 1964. Clay served 105 days in jail for participating in the [[Jefferson Bank and Trust Co.]] [[Civil and political rights|civil rights]] demonstration in 1963. Clay organized, and was among those who led, this protest as well.<ref name = Fox2>{{cite news|url=https://fox2now.com/news/missouri/william-lacy-bill-clay-sr-missouris-first-black-congressman-dies-at-94/|title=William Lacy 'Bill' Clay Sr., Missouri's first Black congressman, dies at 94|first1=Andy|last1=Banker|first2=Joey|last2=Schneider|publisher=Fox 2 St Louis|date=July 17, 2025|accessdate=July 19, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.stlpr.org/culture-history/2024-08-28/jefferson-bank-protests-work-black-st-louisans-new-play-legacy|title=The Jefferson Bank Protests changed work for Black St. Louisans. A new play details its legacy|first=Marissanne|last=Lewis-Thompson|publisher=St Louis Public Radio|date=August 28, 2024|accessdate=July 19, 2025}}</ref> Prior to entering [[United States Congress|Congress]], Clay held jobs first as a [[Real estate agent|real-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|date=February 2021}} 

== Personal life ==
Clay married Carol Ann Johnson in 1953. They had three children, including [[Lacy Clay|Lacy Clay Jr.]], who would be elected in 2000 to succeed his father in the U.S. House of Representatives.<ref name="contemporary">{{cite web|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/historians-and-chronicles/historians-miscellaneous-biographies/william-l-sr-clay|title=Clay, William Lacy 1931–|work=Contemporary Black Biography|publisher=Encyclopedia.com|date=2005|access-date=August 5, 2018}}</ref><ref name="House history">{{cite web|url=http://history.house.gov/People/Detail?id=11058|title= CLAY, William Lacy, Sr.|publisher=United States House of Representatives Office of the Historian|access-date=August 5, 2018}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=American |first=The Clay family for The St Louis |date=March 7, 2025 |title=Carol Ann Johnson Clay passes at 89 |url=https://www.stlamerican.com/news/obituaries/carol-ann-johnson-clay-passes-at-89/ |access-date=May 1, 2025 |website=St. Louis American |language=en-US}}</ref> 

Clay died in July 2025, at the age of 94, at the home of one of his daughters in [[Adelphi, Maryland]].{{efn|name = Death}}

==Political career==
{{section too short|date=July 2025}}
{{unsourced section|date=February 2021}}
Clay was elected to the [[United States House of Representatives]] in [[1968 United States House of Representatives elections|1968]]. Along with fellow African American lawmakers such as former Reps. [[Shirley Chisholm]] (D-[[New York (state)|NY]]) and [[Louis Stokes]] (D-[[Ohio|OH]]), Clay was one of three newcomer members of Congress in 1969 who helped co-found of the [[Black Congressional Caucus]] predecessor group the "Democratic Select Committee" at behest of [[Charles Diggs]] (D-MI).<ref name=congressionalblackcaucus>{{cite web|url=https://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/BAIC/Historical-Essays/Permanent-Interest/Congressional-Black-Caucus/|title=The Rise of the Congressional Black Caucus|author=History, Art and Archives|publisher=U.S. House of Representatives|accessdate=July 19, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/07/17/congress/bill-clay-sr-cbc-dies-00460418|title=Bill Clay Sr., founding member of Congressional Black Caucus, dies|first=Gregory|last=Svirnovskiy|publisher=Politico|date=July 17, 2025|accessdate=July 19, 2025}}</ref> 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.<ref name=congressionalblackcaucus /> He became an advocate for [[environmentalism]], [[Labour economics|labor]] issues, and [[social justice]]. Clay voted for the [[Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993]]. From 1991 until the [[Republican Revolution|Democrats 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 Clay|Lacy]], succeeded him.

==Honors==
In 1996, the William L. Clay Center for Molecular Electronics (now the Center for Nanoscience) was dedicated in his honor on the campus of the [[University 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.

The [[Poplar Street Bridge]], which connects St. Louis, Missouri, and the town of [[East St. Louis, Illinois]], was renamed '''Congressman William L. Clay Bridge''' on October 7, 2013.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stltoday.com/news/state-and-regional/missouri/st-louis-bridge-renamed-for-long-time-congressman/article_4aa107e9-e014-55e3-a6b5-67af8c53c9ba.html |title=St. Louis bridge renamed for long-time congressman : Stltoday |website=www.stltoday.com |access-date=January 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20131013175637/http://www.stltoday.com/news/state-and-regional/missouri/st-louis-bridge-renamed-for-long-time-congressman/article_4aa107e9-e014-55e3-a6b5-67af8c53c9ba.html |archive-date=October 13, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

William L. Clay has a star and biographical plaque on the [[St. Louis Walk of Fame]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stlouiswalkoffame.org/inductees/?view=achievement|title=St. Louis Walk of Fame Inductees|last=St. Louis Walk of Fame|publisher=stlouiswalkoffame.org|access-date=April 25, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121031162946/http://www.stlouiswalkoffame.org/inductees/?view=achievement|archive-date=October 31, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Works==
Clay wrote several works of non-fiction.

*''To Kill or Not to Kill: Thoughts on Capital Punishment'' (1990) {{ISBN|0-89370-331-1}}
*''Just Permanent Interests: Black Americans in Congress, 1870–1991'' (1992) {{ISBN|1-56743-000-7}}
*''Racism in the White House: A Common Practice of Most United States Presidents'' (2002) {{ISBN|0-88258-206-2}}
*''Bill Clay: A Political Voice at the Grass Roots'' (2004) {{ISBN|1-883982-52-9}} Designed by Steve Hartman of Creativille, Inc. [https://web.archive.org/web/20081208220008/http://www.creativille.net/ Creativille, Inc. - Be Simple. Be Passionate. Be Creative.]
*''The Jefferson Bank Confrontation'' (2008)  {{ISBN|0-944514-34-0}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography}}
*[[List of African-American United States representatives]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000488 Biographic sketch at U.S. Congress website]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060628134413/http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/biography.asp?bioindex=393&category=politicalMakers The History Makers]
* [http://www.wlcsrf.org The William L. Clay Scholarship and Research Fund]
* {{C-SPAN|2775}}

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{{s-bef|before=[[Frank M. Karsten]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of the [[List of United States Representatives from Missouri|U.S. House of Representatives]]<br>from [[Missouri's 1st congressional district]]|years=1969–2001}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Lacy Clay]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[William D. Ford]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Chair of the [[United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform|House Civil Service Committee]]|years=1991–1995}}
{{s-non|reason=Position abolished}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Bill Goodling]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Ranking Member of the [[United States House Committee on Education and Workforce|House Education Committee]]|years=1995–2001}}
{{s-aft|after=[[George Miller (California politician)|George Miller]]}}
{{s-end}}

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{{United States representatives from Missouri}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Clay, Bill}}
[[Category:1931 births]]
[[Category:2025 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:20th-century United States representatives]]
[[Category:20th-century Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American politicians]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American male writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:21st-century Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Activists from St. Louis]]
[[Category:African-American Catholics]]
[[Category:African-American city council members in Missouri]]
[[Category:African-American United States representatives]]
[[Category:African-American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:African-American people in Missouri politics]]
[[Category:African-American United States Army personnel]]
[[Category:Civil rights activists from Missouri]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:American Roman Catholic writers]]
[[Category:Trade unionists from Missouri]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from St. Louis]]
[[Category:Catholics from Missouri]]
[[Category:Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Missouri]]
[[Category:Members of Congress who became lobbyists]]
[[Category:Members of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Missouri]]
[[Category:Politicians from St. Louis]]
[[Category:Saint Louis University alumni]]
[[Category:United States Army soldiers]]
[[Category:Writers from St. Louis]]