Everyone is welcome to the Breath of Fresh Air, environmental block party, on Saturday, September 7th. 12:00 - 5:00 PM.

Unity Funeral Chapel and the History it Holds 

Nestled between a deli and a juice bar on 126th and Frederick Douglass ave is Unity Funeral Chapel. The building's bright blue awning backed by white stone makes the chapel glow in comparison to its brown brick neighbors. Despite the eye-catching exterior, many walk past the funeral home without realizing its history and significance. The Unity Funeral Chapel in Harlem was established in 1953 by Dr. Clilan B. Powell, a prominent black entrepreneur. Two more Unity chapels were later erected, one in the Bronx and another in Brooklyn. 

Dr. Powell also served as editor and publisher of The Amsterdam News which he bought in 1935 with his business partner, Dr. Phillip H.M. Savory. Many Black journalists had work published in the Amsterdam News, including Earl Brown, Thomas Watkins, and Malcom X. When Malcolm X passed away, his body was entrusted to the Unity Funeral Chapel of Harlem. 

The astounding people involved with the funeral home don't end there. When Dr. Powell established the chapel in 1953, he commissioned Beverly Lorraine Greene, a Harlem resident and the first African-American woman to be licensed as an architect, to design it.

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