Lewis, John Robert

Lewis, John Robert, 1940–2020, African-American politician and civil-rights leader, b. near Troy, Ala., grad. American Baptist Theological Seminary (B.A. 1961), Fisk Univ. (B.A. 1967). The son of sharecroppers, he was an early advocate of nonviolence in the pursuit of civil rights for African Americans. A member of the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and its president (1963–66), he organized lunch-counter sit-ins, was one of the Freedom Riders, and helped organize the historic March on Washington (1963). Arrested more than 40 times, he was beaten by white mobs and police, most violently during the Selma to Montgomery march on Bloody Sunday (1965), when he was severely injured. After leaving SNCC, Lewis concentrated on voter education and headed (1977–80) ACTION, a federal volunteer agency. A liberal Democrat, he won election to the Atlanta city council in 1982; four years later he was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served until his death.

See his Walking with the Wind (with M. D'Orso, 1999); D. Halberstam, The Children (1998).

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