Clarence H. Cobbs

Clarence Henry Cobbs (February 29, 1908 – June 28, 1979) was an African-American spiritualist clergyman and broadcaster, the leader of the First Church of Deliverance in Chicago.

[1] Nicknamed "Preacher", Cobbs became known for his fashionable clothes, informal manner, and stirring performances with the church's 200-member choir.

[1][3] In 1939, the church moved into a large new building designed by Walter T. Bailey at its Wabash Avenue site,[5] and that same year, composer Kenneth Morris prevailed on Cobbs to install a Hammond organ, giving the choir's music a distinctive sound.

The First Church of Deliverance became known as a welcoming place for gay black Chicagoans, and Cobbs made no effort to hide annual vacations he took with his male secretary R. Edward Bolden.

[9] During racial tensions around fair housing protests, he invited civil rights leader Archibald Carey to speak on his radio program to counsel against violence and promote acceptance.

[12] Doris Akers credited one of Cobbs' radio sermons for inspiring her 1951 song "My Expectation", and songwriters Thurston G. Frazier and Cora Martin also dedicated works to him.