ADAM CLAYTON POWELL JR.

ADAM CLAYTON POWELL JR. (1908 -1972) Politician, minister, and the first elected African American Congressman of New York.

As pastor of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in 1937, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. built the congregation to over 13,000 members.

Narration:

New York Politician and pastor.  His name – Adam Clayton Powell.

Born in 1908 in New Haven, Connecticut, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. was the son of a Baptist preacher.

The family relocated to New York when his father was assigned to head the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Manhattan.

Powell graduated from Colgate University in 1930, received a master’s in religion from Columbia University in 1932, and was elected the first African American member of the New York City Council in 1941.

A civil rights crusader with a confrontational approach, Powell was the first African American elected to Congress from New York in 1945.

Controversy surrounded Powell’s political career, but he supported important legislation for African American rights and remained in office for 29 years.

Adam Clayton Powell – A Great American

Credits: Editor: Stacy T. Holmes, ACE, Narrator: Steve Schy, Music: PartnersinRhyme.com, Digital Collection: Library of Congress, Copyright: CBN Communications