 Born on May 5, 1865 at the junction of Magotty and Soak Creeks in Franklin County, Virginia, Adam Clayton Powell, Sr. would live a life characterized by fearlessness and determination. Born to a Cherokee Indian Squaw only twenty-five days after Lee's surrended at Appomattox, his parents Anthony and Sally Dunning Powell had both been slaves. Notwithstanding his unassuming birth and childhood, Powell, Sr. would grow to become one of the most famous African-American churchmen of his time.
While the church would grow to become the venue through which Powell, Sr. would ultimately live his life serving people, his exploits in Rendville, OH before receiving his call to ministry are not those of a man one would assume would have much interest in church life.
His early life consisted of heavy drinking, bar fights, gambling and general wantonness. At the turn of the twentieth century, these sorts of activities were precisely the things against which the church operating in the legacy of moral suasion spoke. For these reasons, it is all the more profound that this man would eventually become pastor of the largest African-American church in New York.
After a weeklong revival in Rendville, Powell, Sr, converted to Christianity in 1885, deciding then to study law and politics. He attended Virginia Union University from 1888 to 1892 and graduated from its theological school (then known as Wayland Seminary of Washington, DC) and its academic school.
Thereafter, he served several churches in various cities throughout the east coast among such as St. Paul, Philadelphia, New Haven, CT and ultimately New York, New York. While in New Haven, Powell was a special student at Yale Divinity School before being named pastor of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City, in December of 1908.
After much argument and ultimate a threat to leave Abyssinian, Powell convinced the church to move to Harlem in 1920 and bought land for the church at West 138th St. in 1923. In addition to constructing their building, Powell also built one of the first community recreation centers in Harlem.
While in Harlem, where he saw the greatest opportunity to address the population about which he cared, Powell established a social and religious education program. Because of his personal determination to addressing the needs of his community by the mid-1930s, Abyssinian boasted 14,000 members and had one of the largest Protestant congregations in America.
Among this other major accomplishments, during the Great Depression, Powell networked the area churches to provide weekly soup kitchens for the hungry. Powell, Sr., was actively involved in the struggle against racism, fielding numerous lecture invitations, co-founding the National Urban League, participated in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and was one of the organizers of the Silent Protest Parade of 1928.
After 29 years, Powell, Sr. retired in1937, on his third attempt, being succeeded by his son Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. who in 1945 became New York's first Black congressman.
Powell Sr. died in 1953, leaving behind a church that remains one of Harlem's most prized historic and spiritual landmarks.
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