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Adam Clayton Powell Sr.

1865–1953

United States

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Biography

Adam Clayton Powell (May 5, 1865 – June 12, 1953) was an American pastor who developed the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, New York, as the largest Protestant congregation in the country, with 10,000 members. He was an African American community activist, author, and the father of Congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Born into poverty in southwestern Virginia, Powell worked to put himself through school and Wayland Seminary, where he was ordained in 1892.

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Biography text · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source checked 2026-10-13

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