Clay emerged as civil rights standard-bearer amid shifting political, social tides

William L. Clay Sr., Missouri’s first Black congressman and a prominent civil rights leader who died last week, was one of the most consequential politicians in the state, rising to power during a period of entrenched racial discrimination that routinely relegated Black workers to low-paying, menial jobs.

Clay skillfully navigated the political and social climate of the time, launching a distinguished public service career that began with notable success as a St. Louis City alderman and led to a three-decade career in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“Bill, by any stretch of imagination, was really a radical politician who operated inside the system,” said Mike Jones, a former St. Louis alderman with decades of business and government experience. “His legacy will be that he was a Black political leader who occupied the space of a real political leader. He made a permanent imprint on politics, St. Louis politics in general. He was a master in the art of politics.”

Reflecting on Clay’s early years in the U.S. House, Virvus Jones said, “From 1968 to probably 1973, Bill Clay was the preeminent voice of Congress. He was the Malcolm X of Congress, who had to fight every two years to stay in office.”

Clay, a St. Louis native, saw opportunity in the city’s growing Black population and Black workers’ mounting frustration with business policies and practices that held them back economically.

He returned to St. Louis in 1955 after serving a stint in the Army. The city had reached its peak population of almost 900,000 residents at that point. Between 1955 and 1961, Clay worked as a city bus driver, real estate broker and manager of Industrial Life Insurance Co. He unsuccessfully ran for alderman in 1959 while maintaining his roles as a union official and ward politician.

By 1960, St. Louis’ population had declined to about 750,000, with African Americans making up nearly 30% of residents. By 1968, that share had grown to just under 40%, according to U.S. Census data.

With its population growth, Black voter participation increased as well. Black St. Louisans had migrated west of downtown and were a majority in some previously all-white wards. In 1963, Clay ran for alderman for the 26th Ward, and this time he won.

He wasted no time shaking up the status quo with a numbers-driven report that same year about discriminatory hiring practices of major corporations that led to several months of protesting aimed at Jefferson Bank & Trust Co. A significant precursor to the protest was a shrewd but effective move by Clay that relied on unwitting assistance by then-Mayor Raymond Tucker. 

Clay described the move to the St. Louis American in 2008:

“I was a member of the board of aldermen, and I requested the employment information by saying that Mayor Tucker wanted it to hopefully structure a piece of legislation to deal with (lack of diversity),” Clay said.

He used the data to produce a report titled “Anatomy of an Economic Murder,” which revealed that local companies — including Pevely Dairy, Anheuser-Busch, the Post-Dispatch, the Globe-Democrat and several banks — employed few if any Black workers and had no Black employees in white-collar positions.

The report set off a firestorm in St. Louis’ Black community. The timing could not have been worse for white employers who refused to hire Black employees. Clay, in a 2008 interview with Robert Joiner for St. Louis Public Radio and the St. Louis Beacon, explained how the protest became part of a nationwide phenomenon:

“The Jefferson Bank confrontation began two days after a quarter of a million people took part in the historic March on Washington to demand passage of civil rights legislation,” Clay said. “So, what happened in St. Louis was part of a national movement.”

The 1963 March on Washington marked a pivotal moment of Black solidarity, even in St. Louis. Clay said most Black participants in the civil rights movement “were very cautious.”

“They weren’t cowards,” he said. “But they knew the capacity of white America with power to inflict pain on those who got out of line. But young blacks who weren’t aware of this history and really didn’t give a damn just decided that they weren’t going to take it anymore.”

“This was a complete change in the mood of black America,” Clay continued. “There also were older Black people who were waiting for somebody to provide a different kind of leadership, a more militant leadership, than what had existed.”

Clay, who had become frustrated with the typical conservative leadership of the local NAACP, joined the Congress for Racial Equality (CORE), a newer, younger and bolder organization. CORE led the Jefferson Bank protests. Black professionals risked their careers by participating. Clay was among them, and as a result, he spent more than three months in jail and was forced to pay a hefty fine.

“Bill was a product of the civil rights and Black power youth generations of the 1960s,” said Jones, who serves on The St. Louis American’s editorial board.

The bank sought a court order to stop the protests. Because police and the courts were targeting adult protesters, CORE leaders recruited high school students to join the crusade.

Former City Comptroller Virvus Jones was one of those young protesters. The junior high school student at the time had already been recruited by Clay, who organized the NAACP’s Youth Club.

“If you were arrested as a juvenile, you didn’t stay in jail; your mom or dad would just come and pick you up,” Virvus Jones recalled. “So, Clay and the other CORE leaders sent buses and cabs to pick us up after school.”

While the Jefferson Bank protests were unfolding, another local group — younger and more vocal — was also staging public demonstrations: the Action Committee to Improve Opportunities for Negroes (ACTION), co-founded by activist Percy Green.

In July 1964, almost a year after the Jefferson Bank demonstrations, Green and fellow ACTION member Richard Daly scaled a 125-foot construction ladder on the unfinished north leg of the Gateway Arch to protest the lack of African American inclusion in the project. The six-hour climb drew national media attention.

By 1968, St. Louis was one of many cities across the country where Black revolution was simmering. That rage erupted nationwide after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968. Race riots broke out in more than 100 cities, fueled by social unrest, segregation, poverty and a lack of opportunity for Black Americans. St. Louis, with its strong base of Black activism, somehow avoided a riot.

Black frustration was not only felt in the streets — it was expressed in voter booths.

A 1963 U.S. Supreme Court ruling mandating equal populations in congressional districts paved the way for Clay, in late 1968, to run for an open seat in Missouri’s First Congressional District, which included much of majority-Black north St. Louis. His message of equal employment opportunity resonated with fed-up Black voters, allowing Clay to oust 22-year incumbent Frank Karsten to become the first Black Missouri congressman.

Virvus Jones, fresh from the Vietnam War, joined Clay’s campaign.

Clay won and joined five other Black politicians in Congress: Adam Clayton Powell Jr. (New York), William Dawson (Illinois), Charles Diggs and John Conyers (both from Michigan) and Shirley Chisholm — the first Black woman ever elected to Congress.

Reflecting on Clay’s early years in the U.S. House, Virvus Jones said, “From 1968 to probably 1973, Bill Clay was the preeminent voice of Congress. He was the Malcolm X of Congress, who had to fight every two years to stay in office.”

St. Louis American Publisher Donald M. Suggs said Clay’s personal attributes contributed to his political rise during a time of rigid segregation in St. Louis.

“They included a bold fearlessness, an ability to organize, charisma and a sharp tongue.” Suggs said. “His sensibilities were well-suited for the activism of the Civil Rights Movement that he bravely embraced without hesitation. He belongs in the pantheon of consequential Black leaders.”