BETHESDA, Md. — Augustus F. Hawkins, the first black person from California to be elected to Congress and a champion of workers, fair housing and civil rights, has died. He was 100.
Hawkins, a Democrat who represented South Los Angeles first in the California Legislature and then in Congress for more than a half-century, died Saturday, said his niece Susan Jefferson.
He began his public-service career in an era that was far less congenial to minority politicians.
Hawkins served as a state assemblyman from 1935 until he won election to the House of Representatives in 1962, just as the civil-rights movement was taking center stage. He retired in 1990.
His legislative legacy includes a key role in shaping federal statutes, most important as sponsor of the section of the 1964 Civil Rights Act that created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Hawkins fought with president after president for minimum-wage increases. With Sen. Hubert Humphrey, D-Minn., he wrote the Humphrey-Hawkins Act of 1978, designed to reduce unemployment and inflation.
Rep. Diane Watson, D-Calif., said Hawkins mentored a generation of black politicians.
“He was ‘the only’ for a long time,” she said, referring to his role as one of the first black members of the state Assembly and Congress. “It was Gus Hawkins who gave us the credibility. It was Gus Hawkins who gave us the ideas. … He has left a sterling legacy.”
Among the measures with which he was most closely identified were the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act, which was designed to create jobs; the Youth Employment and Demonstration Projects Act of 1977, which created jobs for young people involving conservation and community-improvement activities; and the Pregnancy Disability Act of 1978.
