Isabel Washington Powell

Isabel "Belle" Geraldine Washington Powell (May 23, 1908 - May 1, 2007) was a dancer, showgirl, and actress during the Harlem Renaissance. She was the first wife of Adam Clayton Powell Jr., and after their divorce, she went on to work in the Harlem public school system.

Isabel Washington Powell
Born	Isabel Geraldine Washington May 23, 1908 Savannah, Georgia
Died	May 1, 2007 (aged 98) New York, New York
Nationality	American
Spouse(s)	Preston Webster Adam Clayton Powell Jr. ​ ​ (m. 1933⁠–⁠1945)​

Biography

Washington Powell was born May 23, 1908, in Savannah, Georgia. Raised in Savannah, she lived with her parents, Harriet (Hattie) Walker Ward Washington, a dancer, and Robert T. Washington, a postal worker, as well as her four brothers and four sisters.[1] After their mother died, she and her older sister Fredi were sent to school at St. Elizabeth's Convent in Cornwell Heights, Pennsylvania. Powell later moved to New York to live with Fredi, who later became well-known as an actress.[2][3]

Following her sister into show business, Washington Powell became a dancer and showgirl at various New York nightclubs, as well as acting on the Broadway stage. In 1929 she played the “other woman” in Bessie Smith’s only film, St. Louis Blues. [2]

Washington Powell's first marriage was to photographer Preston Webster. They had one son together, Preston, Jr (later Preston Powell).[4]

While dancing at the Cotton Club, Washington met Reverend Adam Clayton Powell Jr.[5] The two were married in 1933 at the Abyssinian Baptist Church, where Adam Clayton Powell Sr. served as minister.[2][5] Powell's father objected to the marriage, but the wedding drew 3,000 spectators.[6]

Powell assisted her husband in his early career, during which he was elected to New York City Council, became the senior minister at the Abyssinian Baptist Church, and in 1944, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives.[2] In 1937 the couple purchased a house in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts, an African American community in Martha's Vineyard.[1] They were married from 1933 until 1945, when Powell, a Baptist minister, left her for his second wife. [2]

After her divorce, Powell became a special education teacher. She divided her time between Harlem and Martha's Vineyard.[5]

Powell died on May 1, 2007 in Harlem.[1][7]

References

1. "Isabel Washington Powell, 98, Worked with Harlem Students, Prized Vineyard". The Vineyard Gazette. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
2. "Isabel Powell's Biography". The HistoryMakers. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
3. Gates, Henry Louis Jr and Evelyn Brooks-Higginbothom. African American National Biography. Vol. 6 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008). pp. 406-408.
4. "Adam's Belle". adamandisabel.com. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
5. "Isabel Washington Powell (1909-2008) Harlem & Martha's Vineyard Social Fixture". Harlem Eye. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
6. "Harlem's Isabel Washington". Harlem World Magazine. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
7. WRITER, DAVID HINCKLEYDAILY NEWS STAFF. "Isabel Powell, ex-wife of pol, dies at 98". nydailynews.com.

Further reading

Adam's Belle: A Memoir of Love Without Bounds, by Isabel Washington Powell and Joyce Burnett, ISBN 9780981610214