Born on February 21, 1940, in Pike County, John Lewis was one of ten children of sharecroppers Eddie and Willie Mae Carter Lewis. He attended local county schools. In 1957, after graduating from a segregated high school, Lewis hoped to attend nearby all-white Troy State College (now Troy University) to study for the ministry, but he knew that during this era of segregation no black students had been granted admission to the school. He also wanted to attend Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, but the tuition costs were beyond the means of his family. After his mother brought home a brochure from American Baptist College, a predominantly African American institution in Nashville, Tennessee, Lewis decided to choose that school because students were permitted to work for the school in lieu of paying tuition. While at American Baptist, however, Lewis pondered transferring to Troy State and challenging segregation at the college and applied in December 1957. As typically happened when Black students applied to many southern universities, Lewis received no reply.
After about two months of his application languishing at the college, Lewis wrote to King of his dilemma, and King responded with a round-trip bus ticket to Montgomery so that they could meet to discuss the matter. During his spring break in 1958, Lewis boarded a bus bound for Montgomery. He was met there by a young lawyer named Fred Gray, who had represented Rosa Parks, and was taken to First Baptist Church, where he met with David Abernathy and King; this meeting would mark the beginning of Lewis's involvement in the civil rights movement. After meeting with movement leaders in Montgomery, Lewis decided not to pursue admittance into Troy State because his parents were fearful that he would be killed. Also, Lewis did not want his family to suffer the hardships of losing their land or store credit with local merchants as retaliation for challenging Jim Crow laws. Lewis graduated from American Baptist and went on to earn a bachelor of arts in religion and philosophy from Fisk University.
Lewis parted ways with SNCC in 1966 but continued to work in the field of civil rights. He served as the associate director of the Field Foundation and as a representative for the Southern Regional Council's voter registration programs. Later, he became the director of the Voter Education Project, and, under his leadership, the organization added almost four million minorities to voter rolls. He was married in 1968 to Lillian Miles Lewis, with whom he had one son. In 1977, Lewis entered the political arena when a vacancy in Georgia's Fifth District opened up after President Jimmy Carter appointed Congressman Andrew Young to be the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Lewis was defeated in that race by Wyche Fowler, an Atlanta councilman who would later become a senator. In 1981, Lewis successfully ran for a seat on the Atlanta City Council. He focused his efforts on the issues of ethical government and the preservation of neighborhoods. In 1986, Lewis aimed for higher ground—the U.S. House of Representatives. He defeated fellow civil rights leader Julian Bond and was elected to represent Georgia's Fifth Congressional District. This district includes the city of Atlanta and parts of Fulton County, Dekalb County, and Clayton County. Lewis was only the second African American to represent Georgia in Congress since Reconstruction. He held a leadership role as a member of the House Ways and Means Committee and was the chair of its Subcommittee on Oversight. When Lewis was elected to Congress, the city of Troy and Troy University held "John Lewis Day" and a parade in his honor. Almost 30 years after his application to the school was ignored, Chancellor Ralph Adams awarded Lewis an honorary degree from the school.
Lewis generated controversy during the contentious presidential election of 2008 when he accused Arizona senator John McCain, the Republican nominee, and his running mate, Alaska governor Sarah Palin of "sowing the seeds of hatred and division." He compared the atmosphere at their campaign rallies to that surrounding Alabama governor George Wallace's political career during the era of segregation. In assessing these campaign rallies, Lewis gave a stern warning to McCain that he was arousing dangerous and inflammatory sentiments among his supporters.
In 2013, Lewis's career took a new turn, when he coauthored the first of a three-part graphic novel, March, based on his experiences during the civil rights movement and produced by Top Shelf Productions The first part appeared in 2013, and two subsequent volumes were published in 2014 and 2015. In July 2013, Rep. Lewis became the first sitting congressman to appear among the authors and other creative artists at the annual Comic-Con convention in San Diego, California. He returned in 2015 when the final installment of his series was released.
Lewis died from pancreatic cancer on July 17, 2020. Notably, Lewis died the same day as Rev. C.T. Vivian, another veteran of voting rights efforts in Selma. In summer 2020, during widespread protests against racial injustice and police brutality, Lewis voiced support for those protests just days prior to his death. Fellow lawmakers and others remembered Lewis as the "conscience of the Congress" for his long-time commitment to justice and nonviolence and his fight for civil and human rights. He was honored posthumously as an Alabama Humanities Alliance Fellow of 2022 in February of that year.
Additional Resources
Lewis, John, with Michael D'Orso. Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998.
Additional Resources
Lewis, John, with Michael D'Orso. Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998.
Lewis, John. Across That Bridge: Life Lessons and a Vision for Change. New York: Hyperion, 2012.
Jim Haskins and Kathleen Benson. John Lewis in the Lead: A Story of the Civil Rights Movement. New York: Lee & Low Books, 2006.
