Charles Albert Tindley
Born: July 7, 1851, Berlin, Maryland.
Died: July 26, 1933, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Buried: Eden Cemetery, Collingdale, Pennsylvania.
Tindley is known as one of the founding fathers of American Gospel music. The son of slaves, he taught himself to read and write at age 17. He was a driven young man, working as a janitor while attending night school, and earning his divinity degree through a correspondence course. In 1902, he became pastor of the Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the church where he had earlier been the janitor. At the time of Tindley’s death, his church had 12,500 members. The Tindley Temple United Methodist Church in Philadelphia was named after him. Tindley’s I’ll Overcome Some Day was the basis for the American civil rights anthem We Shall Overcome, popularized in the 1960’s.
Source:The Cyber Hymnal