The Father of Gospel Music. The Prince of Preachers. The Barefoot Boy of Berlin.

Though the world knew Charles Albert Tindley by many names, most residents of his birthplace had never heard of him.

The reverend who wrote the lyrics to more than 50 gospel hymns, including what became the civil rights anthem “We Shall Overcome” and the original “Stand by Me,” was molded on the country roads of Worcester County in the waning days of slavery.

Yet, the museums of Berlin, about 15 minutes east of Ocean City, offered no mention of him for years, even though some Tindley family members remained in town. The schools didn’t talk about him, either.

That changed about three years ago, when the town of Berlin unveiled a mural honoring the American lyricist. Since then, one of the churches Tindley founded, New Bethel, has hosted a summer concert honoring him. The Calvin B. Taylor House Museum dedicated an exhibit to Tindley. And Berlin’s Black community, long cut off from downtown by Route 113, finally saw its contributions honored in the heart of what’s often recognized as the state’s best small town.

“We tend to have a habit of letting these folks go, and then coming back and recognizing them later,” said Lisa Challenger, executive director of Beach to Bay Heritage Area, which received a grant for the mural. “But we get there. I guess that’s the important part.”

Philadelphia, where he led a church from 1902 to 1932, long ago honored Tindley. The church, which once claimed 12,500 members, was renamed Tindley Temple. It’s credited as the nation’s first megachurch.

The massive organ at Tindley Temple in Philadelphia, where Charles Albert Tindley was a pastor for many years. (Rona Kobell/The Banner)

Today, it’s a vibrant hub of Center City, with a jazz cafe and an institute housing his impressive musical archive. After he died in 1933, he was buried at historic Eden Cemetery outside Philadelphia, sharing eternity with a who’s who of Black abolitionists, suffragettes and fellow preachers.

Born around 1851 (the exact date is unclear), Tindley spent his childhood between freedom and slavery, in a state where a Black child’s status often was ever-shifting and tenuous. His mother, Hester, was free; his father, Charles Tindley Sr., was enslaved at Joseph Briddell’s plantation south of Berlin. Hester died when Tindley was young. He lived with his mother’s sister until he was old enough to work in the Taylor house, then returned to his father.

With no formal schooling, young Tindley taught himself to read by studying discarded newspaper scraps. He also may have received some training from the enslaver Calvin B. Taylor, namesake of the Berlin museum.

Tindley often told the story of when, as a boy, he felt compelled to worship and walked 5 miles to pray at his father’s church. He hid until the pastor asked children who could read the Bible to approach. Tindley emerged from his hiding place and read, flawlessly. Those who witnessed the incident called him “the Barefoot Boy of Berlin.”

Tindley met his wife, Anna Daisy Henry, in Berlin, and in 1880 they moved to Philadelphia. He started working as a janitor in the church he eventually led. He took night classes and became an ordained minister in 1887. He served throughout Delaware and on Maryland’s Eastern Shore before returning to Philadelphia in 1902.

“He was known as ‘Mr. Delaware Conference,’” said the Rev. Emanuel L. Johnson, a longtime Eastern Shore pastor, referring to the religious organization for Methodist ministers. “He wrote more than 900 hymns. Five of them are in our current hymnal. He was a leader and a great man of faith.”

Among those songs was “I’ll Overcome Someday,” which gospel arrangers Atron Twigg and Kenneth Morris later turned into the civil rights anthem “We Shall Overcome.” Pete Seeger performed the song, and protesters sang it at sit-ins and strikes throughout the turbulent 1950s and 1960s.

In Berlin, Tindleys honored their famous relative by singing his hymns in church. The larger community, though, had no idea how the Eastern Shore shaped the man whom author Ralph Jones called the “Prince of Preachers” in a 1983 biography. (Tindley’s son E.T. Tindley possibly coined the name first; he published a biography called “The Prince of Colored Preachers” in 1942.)

When Challenger learned her organization had received a $110,000 state grant in 2021, she knew the time had come to honor him.

The Rev. Charles Albert Tindley’s face is projected at the church in Philadelphia where he rose from janitor to pastor. (Rona Kobell/The Banner)

Worcester County had come a long way by then. The county had settled a discrimination lawsuit, which led to political redistricting — and the first Black county commissioner. The Germantown School, which Black children attended for decades, was restored and became a community center and exhibit space.

Diana Purnell, the county’s second Black commissioner, felt that Tindley’s time had come.

“It’s all a part of Berlin, a part of history,” she said. “We have to always keep our history in front of people.”

Challenger, Purnell and others worked on the mural for close to a year, but it wasn’t easy. They hired artist Jay Coleman, known for his vibrant colors, but the town’s historic preservation officials wanted a black-and-white mural. Then they ran into resistance about the location before a property owner finally agreed to host it.

That struggle felt long ago at the dedication, when the Tindley Temple choir sang and a crowd from both sides of Route 113 stood before the finished mural.

The Calvin B. Taylor House has a comprehensive exhibit about his life, complete with audio of his sermons.

Berlin’s most famous son, or at least the most familiar name, is perhaps Stephen Decatur, a naval commander who fought in the Barbary Wars under Presidents John Adams and James Monroe and died young in a duel. He enslaved more than a dozen people. Berlin’s highway, park and high school are all named after Decatur, though he never lived there as an adult.

Melissa Reid, an educator and museum volunteer who works closely with Challenger, said she’s glad Berliners now have another favorite son.

“Charles Tindley was a lifelong supporter. He gave back to the community,” she said. “Finally, Berlin has chosen to recognize a giant humanitarian.”