Avenger of the Week | Lillian Miles Lewis

This week, as we mourn the loss of U.S. Representative John Lewis of Georgia, an icon of the civil rights movement, we honor his late wife Lillian Miles Lewis, who had a distinguished academic career and was his closest political adviser until her death in 2012.

Lillian had earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at then-California State College in Los Angeles, had been to Africa with the Peace Corps, and was working as a librarian at Atlanta University when she met the well-known, young civil rights leader at a party in Atlanta in 1967. She said later that she felt like she already knew him because she had seen and heard him so much on television. Friends described them as the perfect couple — she was feisty, he was gentler, and both were passionate about the civil rights movement — and they married in 1968.  

John would say that Lillian had always been more involved in politics, much more than he had. A delegate for Congresswoman Shirley Chisolm at the 1972 Democratic National Convention, she was known as an excellent strategist, organizer, and speaker.

While Lillian pursued her career with an emphasis on international education, she encouraged her husband to transition to elected office and remained a major influence in his public career throughout her life. She served for many years as associate director of the Institute for International Affairs and Development at Atlanta University, where she developed an international affairs major with an emphasis on Africa and the Caribbean and later served as director of the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs at Clark Atlanta University. We celebrate Lillian Lewis for her own accomplishments and her contributions to those of her husband.

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The late Lillian Miles Lewis is @GenderAvenger's #AvengerOfTheWeek. An excellent strategist and speaker with a distinguished academic career, she was the late US Rep John Lewis' wife and closest political advisor until her death in 2012. #GenderAvenger https://www.genderavenger.com/blog/avenger-of-the-week-lillian-miles-lewis