John Lewis
Civil rights leader and congressman
John Lewis was an American civil rights activist who went on to serve Georgia in the US House of Representatives. He also wrote about his life and the movement he helped lead.
2 summaries 40 min of listening
American Born 1940 in Troy, United States Died 2020
About John Lewis
John Lewis (1940 to 2020) was born in Troy, Alabama. As a young activist he was involved in the Nashville sit-ins of 1960 and in the Freedom Rides. From 1963 to 1966 he chaired the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). He was one of the "Big Six" organizers of the 1963 March on Washington. In 1965 he led the first march from Selma toward Montgomery across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where police attacked the marchers on what became known as Bloody Sunday. Lewis represented Georgia's 5th congressional district in the US House of Representatives from 1987 until his death, and became dean of the Georgia delegation. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011. With Andrew Aydin and illustrator Nate Powell, he co-wrote the graphic novel memoir trilogy MARCH, which won the National Book Award. His books in our catalog include Across That Bridge and His Truth Is Marching On.