Somehow, the gray, drizzly, brisk morning seemed appropriate for the event. On Saturday, family members, dignitaries, and members of the community gathered for the “Homegoing Celebration” of Congressman William Lacy Clay Sr.
The somber gathering was held in the spacious auditorium of the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center on the University of Missouri–St. Louis campus. It was an afternoon of reflection, appreciation, and music honoring a historic life.
Clay, who died July 17, was the first Black member of Congress elected from Missouri and a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus. He represented Missouri’s 1st Congressional District for 32 years, serving his entire tenure on the House Education and Labor Committee.
“One thing Bill Clay believed in was coalition politics and establishing alliances. And he did that early on in his career when, at the age of 28, he was elected to sit on the board of aldermen. He went right in to fight for a piece of legislation to eliminate segregation in public accommodations.”
William Lacy Clay, Jr.
Long before his years in Congress, Clay was already testing the limits of courage. As a young St. Louis alderman and civil rights activist in the early 1960s, he led the 1963 Jefferson Bank protests, confronting discriminatory hiring that barred Black tellers from newly integrated banks.
“When we talk about courage, when we talk leadership, we’re talking about someone like Bill Clay, and there’re not many like him,” U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, who grew up in the St. Louis area, told the audience. “Many of us don’t have the courage he had.”
Clay was instrumental in major legislative reforms, including the Hatch Act, which limits political activities of federal employees, and he helped advance the Family and Medical Leave Act, signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1993. In his final term, Clay co-sponsored a federal bill calling for a commission to study reparations for slavery and racial discrimination.
He was also a staunch supporter of UMSL and played a key role in securing funding for the Touhill Center.
The ceremony opened with a video showcasing Clay’s life as a husband, father, union manager, and politician.
Former Congressman William Lacy Clay Jr., who succeeded his father as 1st District congressman, welcomed the audience and shared memories of his father’s political accomplishments. He said his dad considered co-founding the Congressional Black Caucus in 1971 his greatest achievement. The group started with 16 members and now has 62, Clay noted.
“One thing Bill Clay believed in was coalition politics and establishing alliances,” Clay Jr. said. “And he did that early on in his career when, at the age of 28, he was elected to sit on the board of aldermen. He went right in to fight for a piece of legislation to eliminate segregation in public accommodations.”
That fight for fairness shaped Clay’s political life and inspired a new generation of leaders who saw activism and public service as intertwined. His early courage on the front lines of St. Louis’ civil rights movement laid the foundation for his later work in Congress, where he built coalitions to expand opportunity and equality on a national scale.
U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, who represents Missouri’s 5th District, told the audience, “We’re all walking in the shadow of Bill Clay,” before welcoming Waters to the stage.
“I’m not mourning, I’m celebrating,” said Waters, who represents a California congressional district. “I am celebrating the life and times of Bill Clay. I not only knew him as a distant relative, I got to serve with him in the House of Representatives of the United States of America. And that was very special to me.”
Waters recalled knowing Clay’s legacy even before her own election.
“I already knew the story of his leadership and what he did to help with the protests and sit-ins at Jefferson Bank, and what he did inspired me for years to come,” she said. Although she joked that she didn’t want to “talk politics,” she drew laughter and applause when she added, “but I sure wish he was here to get on [President] Trump.”
She went on to describe Clay as a leader whose influence reached far beyond Missouri. “Bill Clay was a national and international leader in the way that he worked in the 32 years that he served,” she said.
Continuing the theme of walking in the shadow of greatness, U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell, who now holds the seat Clay once did, spoke about the lessons he has drawn from Clay, Cleaver and Waters — leaders he described as “people who are doing it right.”
Recalling Clay’s iconic phrase, “There are no permanent enemies, no permanent friends, only permanent interests,” Bell said that for him, those words mean that “politics at its core is about purpose, not power; it’s about standing for something even when you stand alone.”
“Today we honor a man who lived that truth,” Bell continued. “He was a force for fairness and a voice for the voiceless. He didn’t come to Washington to be seen; he came to make sure you were seen.”
Former State Sen. Timothy Green remembered Clay as “a statesman” and “a champion,” adding, “To the public he was a statesman, to the people he was a champion; but to those of us who were his supporters, like myself, he was ‘The Congressman.’”
The program concluded with reflections from former St. Louis Alderman Terry Kennedy, now clerk of the Board of Aldermen. Speaking in spiritual terms, Kennedy reminded the audience that Clay’s work — and his energy — continue through those he inspired.
“The work of those before us holds us up, puts strength in our backs and helps us understand how we must work today,” he said. “The energy has simply transformed; it is not destroyed.”
Sylvester Brown Jr. is the Deaconess Foundation Community Advocacy Fellow.