Congressman Adam Clayton Powell & Hazel Scott 1948

Description

Adam Clayton Powell Jr.
(November 29, 1908 – April 4, 1972) was a Baptist pastor and an American politician, who represented Harlem, New York City, in the United States House of Representatives (1945–1971). He was the first person of African-American descent to be elected from New York to Congress in 1928 Oscar Stanton De Priest of Illinois was the first black person to be elected to Congress in the 20th century; Powell was the fourth.
Re-elected for nearly three decades, Powell became a powerful national politician of the Democratic Party, and served as a national spokesman on civil rights and social issues. He also urged United States presidents to support emerging nations in Africa and Asia as they gained independence after colonialism.
In 1961, after 16 years in the House, Powell became chairman of the Education and Labor Committee, the most powerful position held by an African American in Congress.
14" x 11"
original silver print
with Halsman's stamp on the reverse. Dated 1948.
Philippe Halsman
(1906 – 1979) was a Latvian-born American portrait photographer. Born to a Jewish family in Riga, Halsman studied electrical engineering in Dresden. In 1930 Halsman relocated to Paris and began his career as a portrait photographer. In 1932 he opened his first studio and merely two years later his work began appearing in magazines such as Vogue. In 1941 Halsman met the surrealist artist Salvador Dalí and they began to collaborate in the late 1940s. In 1942 he found work with Life Magazine photographing hat designs and went on to photograph many celebrities. In 1951 Halsman was commissioned by NBC to photograph various popular comedians of the time.