LDF Receives $50,000 Legacy from Estate of Black Publisher-Physician, Dr. C. B. Powell

    S RS ee on eee Sines 
PR wy 

AACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND. INC. JULIUS L. CHAMBERS 

OG a 806 15th Street, N.W. HEADQUARTERS 12 Geary Street asia 

\ Washington, D.C.20006 10 Columbus Circle San Francisco, CA94108 JACK GREENBERG 

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2 Y Y (202) 638-3278 New York, Ny.10019 (418) 788 8736 Director-Counsel 

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(212) 586-8397 

For release 
For further information: 

Sunday, June 11, 1978 (212) 586-8397 
Anne Dowling or Rufus Smith 

NOTE TO EDITORS: the NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, I} 

(LDF) is not a part of the National Association for the Advancement 

of Colored People (NAR ReCsPs) though it was founded by tha 

organization and shares its commitment to equal rights. For 

LDF has had its own Board of Directors, budget, staff, office and 

program. 

LDF RECZIVES $50,906 

FROM ESTATE OF BLACK PUBLISHER - 

PHYSICIAN, DR. C. B- POWELL 

Briarcliff Manor, Nev., gune 11 <=- 

Dr. C. B. Powell, one of New York City's most prominent black citizens, 

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presented a $50,000 legacy to the NAACP Legal Defense and 

Fund, Inc. (LDF) today. Dr. C. B. 

and former owner and publisher of 

the sum to the Legal Defense Fund in his will. A long-time supporter 

of the civil rights movement, Dr. Powell was an active member of 

t 

Lena Powell, widow of 

304 

JOHN H. FILER 
National Campai 
JOHN RICCARDO 
Chairman 
National Corporate Con e 
WILLIAM T. COLEMAN, JR 

LDF's Board of Directors from 1960 until his death on September 22, 

1977 at the age of 83. Mrs. Powell made the presentation to 

Contributions are deductible for U.S. income tax purposes 

“The NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, INC. (LDF) is nota part of the National Association for the Advancement of 

Colored People although it was founded by that organization and shares its commitment to equal rights. LOF hashad for 20yearsa sep: 

arate Board of Directors, program, staff, office and budget 

——ssss—-—~St—‘
—™— 



powell 2. 

Julius LeVonne Chambers, President and Jack Greenberg, Director- 

Counsel of the Legal Defense Fund at "An Afternoon in Memory of 

Cc. B.", a memorial service from four to eight p.m. at the Powell's 

Westchester home at 265 Hardscrable Road, Briarcliff Manor. The 

presentation took place at five p.m. 

Jack Greenberg accepted the $50,000 on behalf of LDF. "Dr. 

Powell," he said, "was a man of courage, talent and good will. He 

was unique by any standard and when one remembers that he was born 

into a time and place when even the educated, skilled black person 

often was overwhelmed by oppression and institutionalized racism, 

his accomplishments fill us with awe. With his good fortune he 

always remembered that there were others who needed help and he 

gave it generously. It was gratifying to have him on the Legal 

Defense Fund Board of Directors for so many years. He knew our 

work well and took his task seriously, bringing to it both sound 

advice and compassion for those who suffer -- qualities that marked 

all his efforts, public and private. We will continue to miss him. 

This major gift to LDF is a fitting memorial, indeed." 

Mr. Chambers thanked Mrs. Powell and praised the excellence 

that characterized all that Dr. Powell attempted or accomplished. 



powell 3. 

"Tt was not that Dr. Powell was successful in all that he tried 

that made him unique among black - and white - Americans of his 

generation, it was that he was the best in everything he did. It 

is like him that in death, as in life, his thoughts were for those 

who did not have his advantages. I do not think it presumptuous 

to say that Dr. Powell, who served on our Board for 17 years, 

made this bequest because he recognized that the Legal Defense 

Fund has a record of excellence and achievement that met his high 

standards." 

Dr. Powell, who graduated from Howard University Medical School 

in Washington, D.C. in 1920, began his medical career as New York's 

first roentgenologist in 1922. He became a successful businessman 

as well as physician and in 1936 he and a partner bought the New 

York Amsterdam News for $5,000. Under his leadership the paper, by 

1962, was the largest weekly newspaper in America. Dr. Powell also 

developed a chain of funeral parlors, was an insurance company 

president, became New York's first black Boxing Commissioner and 

acquired extensive real estate holdings, becoming a self-made 

millionaire. He was known for his philanthropy and concern for the 

"little" person. After becoming a successful doctor he set up a 



powell 4. 

scholarship fund at Howard University Medical School from which 

needy black medical students could borrow tuition. He was one 

of the first black publishers to unionize his newspaper to assure 

decent wages for those who worked for him. In addition to his be- 

quest to LDF, Dr. Powell left a sizeable gift to Howard University 

in Washington, D. C.