Tindley, Charles A. (1851-1933), was an American Methodist minister and gospel music composer. Tindley wrote more than 45 gospel hymns . One of his best-known compositions is “I’ll Overcome Some Day” (1900). The hymn’s lyrics probably formed the basis for “ We Shall Overcome .” In the mid-1900’s, African Americans sang “We Shall Overcome” to emphasize their struggle for civil rights .
Charles Albert Tindley was born on July 7, 1851, in Berlin, Maryland. He was the son of a slave and a free black woman. Tindley taught himself to read and write as a teenager. At around age 17, he married Daisy Henry and moved to Philadelphia, where he found work as a church sexton (caretaker). He took classes to prepare for the ministry, and he passed his examination in 1885. He was ordained as a deacon in 1887 and as an elder in 1889. From 1885 until 1902, Tindley fulfilled church assignments in several states.
In 1900, Tindley’s ”I’ll Overcome Some Day” was published in New Songs of the Gospel, a collection of hymns by various composers. He published a total of eight songs around that time. In 1902, he became pastor of the Bainbridge Street Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. A pastor is a clergyman, or minister, in charge of a church. The church was the same one where Tindley had worked as a sexton. Under Tindley, the church grew to more than 10,000 members and was known for its service to the poor. It was renamed Tindley Temple in 1924. In 1905, Tindley co-founded the Soul Echoes Publishing Company. In 1916, he co-founded Paradise Publishing Company. That year, a collection of Tindley’s music called New Songs of Paradise was published.
Tindley’s best-known compositions include “What Are They Doing In Heaven?” (1901); “Beams of Heaven” (also known as ”Some Day”), “Nothing Between,” “The Storm is Passing Over,” “We’ll Understand It Better, By and By,” and “Stand By Me” (all 1905); “Here I Am, Send Me” (1911); “Heaven’s Christmas Tree” (1915); “Leave it There” (1916); and “Let Jesus Fix It For You” (1923). Tindley died on July 26, 1933, in Philadelphia.
