adams was born august 14, 1906 in columbia, south carolina to the reverend john adams sr. and hattie (bowman) adams. adams sr. was an attorney and minister of the african methodist episcopal church and served in the unicameral after his son, from 1949 until his death in 1962. adams attended pueblo high school (class of 1923) in pueblo, colorado before the family moved to nebraska in 1923 and adams attended the university of nebraska-lincoln where he was one of 21 black students and the only black member of the law school class of 1929 (he also received his undergraduate degree from unl in 1927). adams participated in junior boxing, for instance coming in second in the middle weight class (160 pounds) to joe ban in the april 1929 midwestern aau senior boxing championships. his brothers, ralph w. and harold s were also unl alumni and ralph w. was a graduate of the law school and served as a lawyer in omaha. adams enlisted as an infantry officer in world war ii in april, 1932 and was promoted to captain as trial judge advocate at camp knight in oakland, california. ralph and harold also served in the war. he returned to california and specialized in real estate law. in california, he continued to work for the republican party, working with ronald reagan's gubernatorial election, but he said he voted for jimmy carter over reagan for president.