John Lewis
John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights leader. He was the U.S. Representative for Georgia's 5th congressional district from 1987 until his death in 2020. He was the dean of the Georgia congressional delegation. He was a member of the Democratic Party.
John Lewis | |
---|---|
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia's 5th district | |
In office January 3, 1987 – July 17, 2020 | |
Preceded by | Wyche Fowler |
Succeeded by | Kwanza Hall |
3rd Chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee | |
In office June 1963 – May 1966 | |
Preceded by | Charles McDew |
Succeeded by | Kwame Ture |
Personal details | |
Born | John Robert Lewis February 21, 1940 Troy, Alabama, U.S. |
Died | July 17, 2020 Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. | (aged 80)
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse(s) | Lillian Miles (m. 1968; died 2012) |
Children | 1 |
Education | American Baptist College (BA) Fisk University (BA) |
Website | House website |
Lewis, who as chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was one of the "Big Six" leaders of groups who organized the 1963 March on Washington.[1]
Early Life
John Lewis was born in 1940 in Troy, Alabama to Eddie Lewis and Willie Mae Lewis (née Carter), who were sharecroppers in Pike County, Alabama.[2][3][4][5] Sharecroppers were people who were allowed to rent a part of a piece of land for return of a share of the crops they harvested. He was the third of ten children.
He experienced segregation as a young boy in the Southern United States. When he went to visit relatives in the Northern US, he learned that places there were integrated and served Black people and white people equally.[6]
Personal Life
Lewis married Lilian Miles in 1968. They had a son, John-Miles. Lillian died on December 31, 2012.[7]
Death
In December 2019, Lewis was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer.[8] He died in Atlanta, Georgia on July 17, 2020 from the disease, aged 80.[9][10] His funeral was held at Martin Luther King Jr.'s Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.
John Lewis Media
Civil rights leaders meet with President John F. Kennedy and Vice President Lyndon Johnson after the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, 1963. Lewis is fourth from left.
Lewis with President Jimmy Carter in 1979
Lewis greets President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan in 1987.
Lewis speaks during the final day of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado
House Democrats, led by Lewis, take the floor to begin a sit-in demanding gun safety legislation on June 22, 2016
John Lewis at the 2017 Women's March in Atlanta
President Barack Obama hugs Lewis during a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday and the Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches, March 7, 2015.
References
- ↑ "Congressman John R. Lewis Biography and Interview". www.achievement.org. American Academy of Achievement.
- ↑ Stated on Finding Your Roots, PBS, March 25, 2012.
- ↑ Lewis, John. Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement. p. 15.
- ↑ Reporting Civil Rights: American Journalism 1963–1973, Part Two Carson, Clayborne, Garrow, David, Kovach, Polsgrove, Carol (Editorial Advisory Board), (Library of America: 2003) ISBN 978-1-931082-29-7, pp. 15–16, 48, 56, 84, 323, 374, 384, 392, 491–94, 503, 505, 513, 556, 726, 751, 846, 873.
- ↑ Lewis, John (1999). Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement. San Diego: Harcourt Brace. p. xv. ISBN 9780156007085.
- ↑ John Lewis (1998). Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-15-600708-5. Retrieved January 1, 2013.
john lewis The church he attended was attacked by the Ku Klux Klan in 1904.
- ↑ Daniel Malloy (December 31, 2012). "Rep. John Lewis' wife, Lillian, dies". Blogs.ajc.com. Archived from the original on January 13, 2014. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
- ↑ "Representative John Lewis diagnosed with Stage IV pancreatic cancer". CBS. December 29, 2019.
- ↑ King, Tom Vanden Brook, Deborah Barfield Berry and Ledyard. "Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights icon who began pushing for racial justice in the Jim Crow south, has died". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
- ↑ Georgia congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis has died at age 80. https://www.businessinsider.com/rep-john-lewis-has-died-2020-7.
Other websites
- Congressman John Lewis Archived 2020-11-26 at the Wayback Machine official U.S. House site
- John Lewis for Congress Archived 2014-04-17 at the Wayback Machine
- John Lewis at Curlie
- SNCC Digital Gateway: John Lewis, Documentary website created by the SNCC Legacy Project and Duke University, telling the story of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and grassroots organizing from the inside-out
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
- Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
- Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
- John Lewis debates the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) Archived 2013-10-29 at the Wayback Machine, June 11, 1996.
- Rep. Lewis on Congress, Gitmo, Afghan War and Charles Rangel – video interview by Democracy Now!, November 17, 2010
- Lewis Appearances on C-SPAN