When he earned an early promotion to the fourth grade, his father removed him from school and insisted that he got a job and helped to support his family.
[1] During his time there, he met many members of the faculty, including Dr. Moton, George Washington Carver,[1] and Benjamin O. Davis Sr. By his second year at Tuskegee, Fowler had made a name for himself around campus because of his academic achievements, and he remained committed to his religious life, singing hymns in both the morning and evening vespers Chapel services.
Fowler received his high school diploma in plumbing in 1933, graduating as the highest ranking male student academically.
With this period of transition, he became one of more than six million African Americans who came from the rural Southern United States to the urban Northeast, a movement that has come to be known and defined as the Great Migration.
[1][2][3][4] Within five years of his appointment, Fowler disbursed all of the church's debts, spearheaded the construction of a new $330,000 edifice,[4] and led the church to contribute annually to denominational schools and affiliate with numerous local organizations, including the National Urban League, the Stoddard Baptist Nursing Home Association, the DC chapter of the Tuberculosis Association, the local branch of the NAACP, and the Mayor's Emergency Committee on Health.
After delivering a message at the Seminary's chapel service, Fowler became an instructor at the school in 1947 teaching English and literature.
As part of his role, he helped acquire the personal libraries of well-known African American Baptists and raise endowment funds.
Holloman and Earl L. Harrison, Fowler became the principal leader in organizing the clergy and laity in the District of Columbia.
As a member of the board of the National Fraternal Council of Negro Churches, director of its Washington Bureau, and Executive Secretary of the Committee of 100 Ministers,[2] Fowler worked to support America's public schools, improve the social services system, lobbied to make jobs available to African Americans who could not be hired at federal agencies in D.C., such as the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, and advocated for the integration of the armed forces and public transportation in D.C.
Walter E. Washington (a close friend of Fowler's) served one four-year term as elected mayor, and was succeeded by Marion Barry in 1979.
While serving his apprenticeship at Shiloh Baptist Church, he met one of the parishioners, Henrietta Roberta Hatter (June 16, 1913 - December 25, 2004).
After high school, she immediately began matriculation at the Miner Teachers College and earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Education in 1935.
Shortly after earning her undergraduate degree, her teaching career began in Baltimore where she taught geography, and in 1950, she was hired by the District of Columbia Public School System as a full-time substitute teacher.
[1] Together they had four children: Andretta, Andrew H., Henrietta E., and John T.[5] In addition to her roles as wife and mother, Mrs. Fowler continued her career in education, and in 1968, she became a permanent faculty member at Woodrow Wilson High School teaching World History, Sociology, and American History, a position from which she retired in 1979.