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.
