- Sister of Fredi Washington, who portrayed Peola in the original Imitation of Life (1934) with Claudette Colbert and Louise Beavers.
- she and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. married despite the strong protestations of father Adam Clayton Sr., who balked at his son marrying a divorced showgirl. Three thousand people attended the ceremony at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City.
- Like her sister Fredi Washington, Isabel started off as a chorus girl. At one time she was a Harlem Cotton Club dancer and performed both on and off Broadway.
- She was separated from her first husband and had a two-year-old son when she met Adam Clayton Powell Jr. in New York City. He was in the audience at the Cotton Club one night and she was a chorus girl in the show.
- The Powell Cottage, known as "The Bunny Cottage", was owned by her husband Adam Clayton Powell Jr., the first African American congressman from the east coast since Reconstruction, and also a Reverend at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem. He was a highly influential leader of the Democratic majority during the passage of the civil rights legislation of the 1960's and 1970's. The home was left to Isabel following their divorce in 1945.
- Following her marriage in 1933, she gave up her career as a dancer and actress and became a supportive wife to the steadily rising and charismatic junior minister Adam Clayton Powell Jr.. She was described by her former husband in his autobiography as "the most beautiful woman I have ever seen."
- Following WWII and her divorce, she began a career as a special education teacher in the New York public school system that lasted over 30 years.
- Died a few days before her 99th birthday.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content