For Immediate Release: July 17, 2025

Contact: Robert Arbuthnot, 573-751-4106

Senator Brian Williams’ Lauds the Life and Legacy of Former Congressman Clay

JEFFERSON CITY — State Sen. Brian Williams, D-University City, issued the following statement regarding the passing of Congressman William L. Clay Sr.:

“William L. Clay Sr., Missouri’s first Black congressman and noted civil rights leader, died July 16 at his daughter Vicki Clay-Jackson’s home in Maryland. Clay had lived in Silver Spring, Maryland, since his retirement from Congress. He was 94 at the time of his death.

Former Congressman William Lacy Clay, Sr., was born on April 30, 1931, in St. Louis, Missouri, to Luella Hyatt and Irving Clay. Growing up with six siblings in a St. Louis tenement, Clay excelled in school; however, at age thirteen, he went to work, taking a job as a janitor in a clothing store where he would later become the tailor. Clay eventually graduated from St. Louis University in 1953 with a B.S. degree in political science and served in the United States Army until 1955. Between 1955 and 1959, Clay worked as a real estate broker in St. Louis, and from 1959 to 1961, as a manager of Industrial Life Insurance Company. Clay then became active in the Civil Rights Movement and served a total of 105 days in jail for taking part in a demonstration in 1963 as an activist. 

Clay became active in local politics, and was eventually elected to the St. Louis Board of Aldermen in 1959; he continued to serve as an alderman for the 26th Ward until 1964, at which time 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 who had been elected from states west of the Mississippi River at that time. Clay served 16 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 African American 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. The couple had three children, Vicki Flynn, William Jr., and Michelle Katherine. Clay’s son William went on to serve in his father's former congressional seat.

Congressman Clay inspired all who knew and served alongside him, including myself. His life and legacy will leave an indelible mark in St. Louis, the State of Missouri and the entire nation.”

Bio courtesy of St. Louis American.

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