ST. LOUIS — A public memorial service will be held on Oct. 18 honoring the life and legacy of the late Congressman William “Bill” L. Clay Sr.
The event will be held at the Blanche Touhill Center for Performing Arts on the University of Missouri-St. Louis campus at 11 a.m.
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Clay, the first African American elected to Congress from Missouri, began his career in St. Louis in the late 1950s. He was a union organizer and civil rights activist before becoming a politician on the city’s Board of Aldermen.
In 1968, Clay Sr. became the first African American to be elected to Congress from Missouri and later helped found the Congressional Black Caucus. He retired in 2001 and was succeeded by his son, William Lacy Clay Jr., who served 20 years in the U.S. House…