Comparison Of Adam Clayton Powell's Life And Work

Traditionally, black Americans were mistreated and oppressed due to their lack of legal standing and political power. In the later half of the 20th century the Civil Rights movement worked to change all that. However, prior to the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act, some black people were able to get elected to Congress and be an effective voice. Perhaps the strongest of these early voices was Adam Clayton Powell. By investigating his political life and work, a better understanding can be achieved to appreciate racial politics in the 20th century.
Adam Clayton was born on November 28, 1908 in New Haven, Connecticut. He soon moved to New York City with his family because his father Adam Clayton Powell Sr. was appointed to work as a minister for the Abyssinian Baptist Church. Powell Sr. worked his way out of poverty and because of these achievements was able to grow up in a wealthy household in New York City. After graduating from Townsend Harris High School Powell went to the City College of New York and would soon transfer to Colgate University. In 1930 Powell graduated from Colgate and went to Columbia University where he earned his masters degree in religious …show more content…
In his efforts for jobs and affordable housing he developed a public following. As the chairman of Coordinating Committee for Employment in 1941 he organized the community to put pressure on local businesses to hire skilled black workers in professional jobs rather than just working in low wage positions. In 1939 he formed a picket line at the World's Fair and increased the black workers from 200 to over 700. In 1941, a bus boycott he ran resulted in an increase of several hundred black employees. Another pharmacy boycott protested for black pharmacists to be hired. He engaged blacks to shop only where blacks