Augustus F. Hawkins

Augustus F. Hawkins was a California Democrat whose 56-year public career included service in the state Assembly and the U.S. House of Representatives. Elected in 1962, he became the first Black representative from west of the Mississippi River and served in Congress from 1963 to 1991. Hawkins helped shape federal equal-employment policy, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and championed better educational and economic opportunities for low-income Americans.