John Lewis

== Early life and education ==
John Robert Lewis was born close to [[Troy, Alabama]], on February 21, 1940, the third of ten children of Willie Mae (née Carter) and Eddie Lewis.<ref name="fid1">Stated on ''[[Finding Your Roots]]'', [[PBS]], March 25, 2012.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Lewis |first1=John |title=Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt]] |date=October 18, 1999 |isbn=9780156007085 |page=15}}</ref><ref name = Seelye>{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/17/us/john-lewis-dead.html|title = John Lewis, Civil Rights Icon and Congressman, Dies at 80|page = A1|newspaper = [[The New York Times]]|last = Seelye|first = Katharine Q.|date = July 17, 2020|accessdate = August 2, 2022|url-access = limited}}</ref> His parents were [[Sharecropping|sharecroppers]] in rural [[Pike County, Alabama]], of which Troy was the county seat.<ref name="ReportingCivilRights">''Reporting Civil Rights: American Journalism 1963–1973, Part Two ''[[Clayborne Carson|Carson, Clayborne]], [[David Garrow|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.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Lewis |first1=John |title=Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement |publisher=Harcourt Brace |location=San Diego |page=xv}}</ref>

As a boy, Lewis aspired to be a preacher,<ref name=Lemley>{{cite news |last1=Lemley |first1=John |last2=Johns |first2=Myke |title=Congressman John Lewis on March |date=August 28, 2013 |access-date=July 20, 2020 |website=[[WABE (FM)|WABE FM]] |location=[[Atlanta]] |url=https://www.wabe.org/congressman-john-lewis-march |archive-date=July 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200721233530/https://www.wabe.org/congressman-john-lewis-march/ |url-status=live }} ([[NPR]] station)</ref> and at age five, he preached to his family's chickens on the farm.<ref name=Banks>{{cite news |last=Banks |first=Adelle M. |title=Died: John Lewis, Preaching Politician and Civil Rights Leader |type=obituary |date=July 18, 2020 |access-date=July 20, 2020 |journal=[[Christianity Today]] |agency=[[Religion News Service]] |url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2020/july/died-john-lewis-baptist-minister-civil-rights-leader.html |archive-date=July 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200721013445/https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2020/july/died-john-lewis-baptist-minister-civil-rights-leader.html |url-status=live }}</ref> As a young child, Lewis had little interaction with [[white people]], as his county was majority black by a large percentage and his family worked as farmers. By the time he was six, Lewis had seen only two white people in his life.<ref>{{cite book |title=Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement |url=https://archive.org/details/walkingwithwindm00lewi/page/19/mode/2up?q=%22just+two+white+people%22|url-access=registration |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |year=1998 |author=John Lewis |page=[https://archive.org/details/walkingwithwindm00lewi/page/19/mode/2up 20] |access-date=February 7, 2021 |isbn=978-0-15-600708-5}}</ref> Lewis recalls "I grew up in rural Alabama, very poor, very few books in our home."<ref>{{cite web |title=National Book Awards 2016 |url=https://speakola.com/arts/john-lewis-national-book-awards-2016 |website=Speakola.com |date=November 29, 2016 |access-date=March 14, 2021 |archive-date=May 3, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170503184105/http://speakola.com/arts/john-lewis-national-book-awards-2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> He describes his early education at a little school, walking distances from his home. "A beautiful little building, it was a [[Rosenwald School]]. It was supported by the community, it was the only school we had."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Jannol |first1=Hannah |title=The Little Known Story Of How A Jewish Sears Exec. Helped His African-American Neighbors |url=https://jewishweek.timesofisrael.com/educating-every-child/ |website=Jewish Week |date=December 7, 2017 |access-date=March 14, 2021 |archive-date=April 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210406132353/https://jewishweek.timesofisrael.com/educating-every-child/ |url-status=live }}</ref> "I had a wonderful teacher in elementary school, and she told me 'read my child, read!' And I tried to read everything. I loved books. I remember in 1956, when I was 16 years old, with some of my brothers and sisters and cousins, going down to the public library, trying to get a library card, and we were told the library was for whites only and not for coloureds."<ref>{{cite web |title=John Lewis: 'Read my child, read!' |url=https://speakola.com/arts/john-lewis-national-book-awards-2016 |website=Speakola.com |date=November 29, 2016 |publisher=2016 National Book Award Winner |access-date=March 10, 2021 |archive-date=May 3, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170503184105/http://speakola.com/arts/john-lewis-national-book-awards-2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> As he grew older, he began taking trips into Troy with his family, where he continued to have experiences of racism and segregation.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Martin |first1=Brad |title=John Lewis Inspires Audience to March Forward While Remembering the Past |journal=ALA Cognotes |publisher=[[American Library Association]] |date=July 1, 2013 |volume=2013 |issue=8 |page=3 |url=http://exhibitors.ala.org/Cognotes_2013/Cognotes_July_1_2013.pdf |access-date=December 31, 2019 |issn=0738-4319|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170320210115/http://exhibitors.ala.org/Cognotes_2013/Cognotes_July_1_2013.pdf|archive-date=March 20, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=John Lewis's March |journal=American Libraries |date=June 30, 2013 |url=https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/blogs/the-scoop/john-lewiss-march/ |publisher=American Library Association |issn=0002-9769|access-date=December 31, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191231100653/https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/blogs/the-scoop/john-lewiss-march/|archive-date=December 31, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Albanese |first1=Andrew |title=ALA 2013: The Day Congressman John Lewis Got his Library Card |magazine=[[Publishers Weekly]] |publisher=PWxyz, LLC |location=New York City |date=June 30, 2013 |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/conferences/article/58040-ala-2013-the-day-congressman-john-lewis-got-his-library-card.html |access-date=December 31, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191231093834/https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/conferences/article/58040-ala-2013-the-day-congressman-john-lewis-got-his-library-card.html|archive-date=December 31, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Lewis had relatives who lived in northern cities, and he learned from them that in the North schools, buses, and businesses were integrated. When Lewis was 11, an uncle took him to [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]], New York, where he became acutely aware of the contrast with Troy's segregation.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lewis |first1=John |title=Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement |year=1999 |publisher=Harcourt Brace |location=San Diego, California |isbn=978-0-15-600708-5 |pages=36–40}}</ref>

In 1955, Lewis first heard [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] on the radio,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lewis |first1=John |title=Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement |publisher=Harcourt Brace |location=San Diego |page=45}}</ref> and he closely followed King's [[Montgomery bus boycott]] later that year.<ref>Lewis, p. 48.</ref> At age 15, Lewis preached his first public sermon.<ref name=Banks/> At 17, Lewis met [[Rosa Parks]], notable for her role in the bus boycott, and met King for the first time at the age of 18.<ref name="NPR">{{cite episode |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5033971 |title=The Montgomery Bus Boycott, 50 Years Later |date=December 1, 2005 |network=[[NPR]] |series=[[News & Notes]] |access-date=April 6, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180203005850/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5033971 |archive-date=February 3, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> In later years, Lewis also credited evangelist [[Billy Graham]], a friend of King's, as someone who "helped change me".<ref name=lewisspeaks /><ref name=lewisgraham /> Lewis also stated that Graham inspired him "to a significant degree" to fulfill his aspirations of becoming a minister.<ref name=lewisspeaks>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PqRiItBO-E Billy Graham passes away: Congressman John Lewis remembers the reverend] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201105023524/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PqRiItBO-E&gl=US&hl=en |date=November 5, 2020 }} [[WXIA-TV|11 Alive]], February 21, 2018, Accessed October 6, 2020</ref><ref name=lewisgraham>{{cite news|url=https://www.11alive.com/article/news/jimmy-carter-andrew-young-john-lewis-others-remember-billy-graham/85-521478331|title=Jimmy Carter, Andrew Young, John Lewis, others remember Billy Graham|publisher=[[WXIA-TV|11 Alive]]|date=February 21, 2020|access-date=October 6, 2020|archive-date=July 17, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717013514/https://www.11alive.com/article/news/jimmy-carter-andrew-young-john-lewis-others-remember-billy-graham/85-521478331|url-status=live}}</ref>

After writing to King about being denied admission to [[Troy University]] in Alabama, Lewis was invited to meet with him. King, who referred to Lewis as "the boy from Troy", discussed suing the university for discrimination, but he warned Lewis that doing so could endanger his family in Troy. After discussing it with his parents, Lewis decided instead to proceed with his education at a small, [[historically black]] college in Tennessee.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Newkirk II |first=Vann R. |title=How Martin Luther King Jr. Recruited John Lewis |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/02/john-lewis-martin-luther-king-jr/552581/ |magazine=The Atlantic |issn=1072-7825 |access-date=August 3, 2020 |archive-date=August 10, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200810061838/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/02/john-lewis-martin-luther-king-jr/552581/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Lewis graduated from the [[American Baptist College|American Baptist Theological Seminary]] in [[Nashville, Tennessee]], and was ordained as a [[Baptists|Baptist]] minister.<ref name=Banks/><ref name=Lemley/> He then earned a bachelor's degree in religion and philosophy from [[Fisk University]], also a [[historically black college]]. He was a member of [[Phi Beta Sigma]] fraternity.<ref>{{cite web |title=President Clinton Inducted into Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/2009/07/11/idUS14578+11-Jul-2009+PRN20090711 |work=Reuters |access-date=January 1, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130315092349/http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/07/11/idUS14578+11-Jul-2009+PRN20090711 |archive-date=March 15, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=July 19, 2020 |title="He fought until the end. That was my big brother" John Lewis' family speaks for 1st time |work=[[WSB-TV|WSB News]] |url=https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/he-fought-until-end-that-was-my-big-brother-john-lewis-family-speaks-1st-time/MYOXRZXBOVGATGRI72EC4ZEXS4/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200729171915/https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/he-fought-until-end-that-was-my-big-brother-john-lewis-family-speaks-1st-time/MYOXRZXBOVGATGRI72EC4ZEXS4/ |archive-date=July 29, 2020}}</ref>