The HistoryMakers

Former Congressman William Lacy Clay, Sr. was born on April 30, 1931, in St. Louis to Luella Hyatt and Irving Clay. Growing up with six siblings in a St. Louis tenement, Clay excelled in school. However, at age thirteen Clay went to work, taking a job as a janitor in a clothing store where he later became the tailor. Clay graduated from St. Louis University in 1953 with a B.S. in political science. He served in the U.S. Army until 1955 and then became active in the civil rights movement. Between 1955 and 1959, he worked as a real estate broker in St. Louis and from 1959 to 1961 as a manager of Industrial Life Insurance Company.

Clay became active in local politics before being elected to the St. Louis Board of Aldermen in 1959. He continued to serve as an alderman for the 26th Ward until 1964, when he resigned to become a union official and ward politician. In 1968, Clay was elected to Congress, becoming the first African American elected from Missouri and one of only two African American representatives elected from states west of the Mississippi River. Clay served sixteen terms in Congress, gaining a reputation for his streetwise urban politics and strong ties to organized labor.

One of the founders of the Congressional Black Caucus, Clay wrote a comprehensive treatise on the history of Black members of Congress titled: Just Permanent Interests: Black Americans in Congress, 1870-1991. Clay married his wife, Carol Ann Johnson, in 1953 in St. Louis. They have three children, Vicki Flynn, William Jr. and Michelle Katherine. Clay's son now holds his former congressional seat.

Clay was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on January 22, 2003.