Mary Louise Powell, who also went by Mary Louise Gordon, lied for years in an unmarked grave at West Roxbury's St. Joseph Cemetery. Powell was credited for introducing civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to Coretta Scott, whom Dr. King would eventually wed.
Wendy Gelberg, an amateur genealogist, sought and found Powell's grave, thanks to a request she received from an-ex Boston reporter, historian, and documentarian from Georgia.
Quest To Find Powell's Grave
According to a GBH News report, the woman who introduced the civil rights couple was laid to rest in an unmarked grave in a West Roxbury cemetery. Mary Louise Powell had played a pivotal role in bringing the couple together, yet her final resting place remained unknown until now.
Powell, a close friend of Coretta Scott's, first met King while he was studying at Boston University. Powell introduced the two one day, and the pair fell in love soon after. King and Scott were married in 1953 and became one of the most iconic civil rights couples in American history.
Despite Powell's significant role in bringing the couple together, her grave was left unmarked for several decades. But it was not accidental, but rather because of what Powell's son, Michael, initially planned for the grave.
Michael Powell, now 76, told GBH News that he bought two lots at the cemetery with the thought of having just one marker for him and his mother.
"I purchased two graves there. I was going to make one stone for two graves when I passed away. So I just never deemed it to be something that I needed to do sooner than later," GBH News quoted him saying.
It was Clennon King, the former Boston reporter, whom Gelberg connected with via the website findagrave.com. King had posted a request for others to help him locate Powell's grave with just a day left to do the task. Gelbrd said she saw the post only two days before Christmas.
Armed with a map with notes she scribbled to help her with her quest, Gelberg headed to the cemetery to try and find Powell's grave. After a few minutes of searching, she eventually reached Section 5B, Grave 207: the exact resting place of the woman who made it possible for Dr. King and her friend Coretta to meet and marry.
About Mary Louise Powell
According to the same GBH News article, Mary Louise Powell was born in 1915 in Atlanta, Georgia. Her only son, Michael, said he remembers his mother performing plenty of recitals in line with her dream of singing at the opera.
"She sang in the Gardner Museum, the 12th Baptist Church, the First Church in Roxbury. She was a singer, and I'm like 7 or 8 years old just tagging along," Michael told the news outlet.
The report added that Powell was friends and classmates with Coretta at the New England Conservatory of Music. The two were both sopranos, the report noted.
Powell worked as a biology teacher in Boston Public Schools for close to two decades. She died of leukemia on Sept. 11, 1991, at age 76.
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