Hidden Treasures from the Archives
of  the
AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM AND
LIBRARY AT OAKLAND
(AAMLO)

Pauline Powell Pauline Powell, a woman with an outstanding talent for art and music, was born in Oakland, California on June 27, 1876. Her parents, William and Josephine Powell, provided her with a good education and a safe environment.

According to information from Noted Negro Women, Miss Powell was educated in the Oakland public schools with very high grades, graduated from grammar school, and then promoted to high school where she remained for one year until her parents took her out so that she could pursue her studies in music and painting .

Miss Powell studied music and piano for seven years under the best masters of the profession. The Noted Negro Women article stated that Miss Powell pursued her studies in painting for five years, having a "natural gift and taste for the profession."

Pauline Powell - Music

A review by the San Francisco Examiner stated, "Pauline Powell gave a beautiful piano solo and she interprets classic music with fine taste and exquisite finish." Likewise, the San Francisco Call said that "Miss Pauline Powell's piano performances were from memory, brilliant in execution and perfect in harmony. She has a natural genius for music and interprets classic music of the great masters with evidences of thorough instruction and rare natural genius. She plays without her notes and entirely from memory which is high proof of her talents."
Pauline Powell - Painting
Pauline Powell was for the most part, a self-taught artist. In 1890, the Mechanics Institute Fair in San Francisco exhibited several of her paintings that received great praise from the Committee of Awards and many fair attendees. Her paintings were the first works of any African American artist exhibited in California.

In 1893, 21-year old Pauline Powell married 26-year old Edward Elis Burns at Parks Chapel AME Church in Oakland. During her 14-year marriage, she painted over 80 paintings, tutored and had several piano recitals. At the age of 35, she died of tuberculosis in Oakland on June 1, 1912. Thanks to her great, great nephew, Stephen P. DeWindt, the Pauline Powell Burns Collection has grown with additional photographs. The Pauline Powell Burns collection is one of the many hidden treasures in the archives at AAMLO.
Edward Elis Burns

If you are interested in seeing any of AAMLO's archival collections, please call for an appointment at (510) 637-0198.

( February / March 2003 )