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Adam Clayton Powell Jr.

Black and white, head and shoulders, photograph of Adam Clayton Powell Jr. speaking with mostly closed eyes, his right hand lifted in a closed diagonal fist with extended thumb, echoing his diagonal head tilt, surrounded by five microphones. Caption reads, “The Congressman and the Microphones—Rep. Adam Clayton Powell, D-N.Y., speaks at a Washington news conference Sept. 22 after the House Education and Labor Committee voted to reduce his powers as committee chairman. Powell said he considers the move a progressive step.”/tiles/collection/4/49308.xml
Photograph reverse/tiles/collection/2/28583.xml
Black and white, head and shoulders, photograph of Adam Clayton Powell Jr. speaking with mostly closed eyes, his right hand lifted in a closed diagonal fist with extended thumb, echoing his diagonal head tilt, surrounded by five microphones. Caption reads, “The Congressman and the Microphones—Rep. Adam Clayton Powell, D-N.Y., speaks at a Washington news conference Sept. 22 after the House Education and Labor Committee voted to reduce his powers as committee chairman. Powell said he considers the move a progressive step.”
Photograph reverse
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Date

1966-12-02

Maker

Associated Press Wirephoto

Dimensions

8 x 10 in. (20.3 x 25.4 cm)

Accession Number

2008.064.000

Credit Line

Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives

Object Details

Elected in 1944 as the first African American to represent New York in the House, Adam Clayton Powell served in Congress for nearly three decades. Despite nagging legal problems and irregular attendance, Powell’s leadership of the Committee on Education and Labor led to more than 50 measures authorizing increases in the minimum wage, federal programs for vocational training, standards for wage and work hours, and aid for schools and libraries. Much of the legislation introduced by the committee helped shape the social policy of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations.

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Office of the Historian: history@mail.house.gov
Office of Art & Archives, Office of the Clerk: art@mail.house.gov, archives@mail.house.gov