I thought about my aunt and uncle now that they have gone on to be with the Lord. They started out with Elder Michaux and helped work on the farm in Williamsburg, and I have fond memories of the stories she tells of how he started and founded the seven churches. Those were memorable moments I will always treasure. I thank God for Elder Michaux, he was a great man of God.

I am inspired by Elder Michaux's life and recently discovered his gravesite in Hampton, VA. My grandmother lived in the neighborhood of his Newport News church and attended his tent revivals and she has fond memories of the Elder which she has shared with me on numerous occassions.

The video of the singing of the Happy, Am I song is priceless.

I have also written several articles on my blog about Elder Michaux. http://findyourfolks.blogspot.com/search/label/Michaux

Professor Dru
Find Your Folks Blog

Time Magazine - June 11, 1934...devotional exercises, interspersed with a rollicking theme hymn called "Happy Am I," have become familiar to many a U. S. radio listener during the past year. Broadcast from Washington over the CBS network every Saturday night, the Church of God of Elder Solomon Lightfoot Michaux is a lively Negro romp, noisy and syncopated as some white folks believe all black worship should be...
...Elder Michaux sometimes conducts mammoth baptismal services, with white-clad participants splashing in the river or Chesapeake Bay and spectators on gaily decorated barges and excursion boats. Last summer he scandalized District of Columbia officials by asking leave to baptize a flock in the reflecting pool in front of Lincoln Memorial...

Encyclopedia of American gospel music - On September 24, 1951, at the anniversary program celebrating twenty years of broadcasting, Michaux...received congratulatory telegrams from General D.Eisenhower and many other Washington leaders.

After watching the video, I gotta say the guy is smooth. And his services were characterized by high production values!

During the Depression people needed to be uplifted in more ways than one. Happy I am!

photograph. What would our country be like today if we could just maintain such attitudes? Thanks to Stanton Square for the very enjoyable video.

Elder Lightfoot Solomon Michaux is one of the few people on Shorpy (excepting movie stars & past-presidents) for which there is surviving video on the web. Here he is with his choir singing "Happy Am I." While obviously a very happy man indeed, he was also pragmatic: "This text will not be preached, until the collection has been reached." Bonus: I love that syncopated clapping.