Powell was optimistic about the prospects of African Americans in aviation, and believed that their involvement in the industry would help end racial prejudice at a time of widespread segregation under the Jim Crow laws.

[1][2] Powell was born in Henderson, Kentucky and moved with his family to Chicago, where he was accepted to the University of Illinois electrical engineering program.

Powell took De Priest on a flight over the city, and subsequently asked Susan Hancock, Booker T. Washington's mother-in-law, to christen the plane with the congressman's name.

[4] To complement his work at the club, Powell also established a school to train mechanics and pilots, and published the Craftsmen Aero News, which he claimed to be the first African-American trade journal.

[3] In 1934 Powell published Black Wings, a fictionalized account of his own life, through which he aimed to inspire young African Americans to enter aviation not only as pilots, but as designers, engineers and mechanics.