My grandmother made the decision to walk the long, hard road of the changemaker,” said Justin Powell, at a ceremony dedicating a headstone to his grandmother, Mary Louise Powell, a musician, educator and Red Crosser. “I think that if she were here today, she’d say the best way to make life better, and easier for all of us, is to be the change you want to see.” (from left: Clennon L. King, creator of the Martin & Coretta Boston Heritage Trail, Nia Rennix, Executive Director of the Red Cross Central and Western Massachusetts chapter, Michael Powell, Mary’s son, Michelle Powell, Mary’s granddaughter, Justin Powell, Mary’s grandson.
By Sophia Brackett
On June 18, 2024, the 71st wedding anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr and Coretta Scott King, the couple’s matchmaker, Mary Louise Powell, was finally honored with a headstone. Powell was a trained musician, an educator, and a Red Crosser. Since her death in 1991, Powell laid in an unmarked grave in West Roxbury, Massachusetts. As part of an effort to tell the history of Boston’s role in the civil rights movement, Clennon King, a Georgia-based documentarian, spearheaded the project of finding a donor for Powell’s headstone.
King, unrelated to Martin, has developed a 27-stop walking tour route titled “Boston Addresses that Speak to Martin and Coretta’s Love Story & Legacy” that ends at Powell’s resting place in St. Joseph Cemetery in West Roxbury, where her new epitaph reads “She matched Martin with Coretta. Their love changed the world we knew. Behold His might and power in the little things we do.”
Powell, born Mary Louise Stamper in Atlanta, grew up in Georgia with her two siblings. She received degrees from Spelman College and Atlanta University before leaving the United States to work with the American Red Cross in France during the Second World War. After the war ended, she spent time in Europe pursuing a music career before returning to the US to study at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. It was there she became acquainted with King, who was in the process of earning his doctorate at Boston University. In 1952, Powell introduced King to her Conservatory classmate Coretta Scott. The rest, as they say, is history.
Powell’s foresight to connect the couple perhaps made it all possible. “Beyond all of her many accolades, we are here today because she was a good friend,” said Michelle Powell, Powell’s granddaughter, during the dedication ceremony. “Martin and Coretta were really lucky to have such a good friend.”
Powell continued to be an activist and community leader for the remainder of her lifetime. As King and his work with the Civil Rights Movement took him to the South, the two continued written correspondence; she would often send advice and commentary to him about his work. She worked for 20 years as a biology teacher in Boston Public Schools and founded Roxbury’s “World Day,” which aimed to help the homeless and children in the area.
As Powell’s life and legacy were honored, her grandchildren, Michelle and Justin Powell, closed with remarks about continuing their grandmother’s spirit of activism. Michelle closed her speech by saying, “I encourage you all to be deliberate with your words and actions because they matter. My grandmother made the decision to walk the long, hard road of the changemaker. I think that if she were here today, she’d say the best way to make life better, and easier for all of us, is to be the change you want to see.” Justin, who discussed the importance of education, mentioned his 8th-grade daughter's absence at the ceremony because of her enrollment in an accelerated math course, said: “In the spirit of my grandmother, I’m gonna go home … and figure out what causes I can be a part of so that my grandmother can be as proud of me as I am of her.”
Support all the urgent humanitarian needs of the American Red Cross.
Find a drive and schedule a blood donation appointment today.
Your time and talent can make a real difference in people’s lives. Discover the role that's right for you and join us today!
