John Lewis: Quick Facts

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American civil rights leader and politician John Lewis was best known for his chairmanship of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and for leading the march that was halted by police violence on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, in 1965, a landmark event in the history of the civil rights movement that became known as “Bloody Sunday.”

Facts

Also Known As	John Robert Lewis
Born	February 21, 1940 • near Troy • Alabama
Died	July 17, 2020 (aged 80) • Atlanta • Georgia
Title / Office	House of Representatives (1987-2020), United States
Political Party	Democratic Party
Awards And Honors	Coretta Scott King Book Awards (2017) • Presidential Medal of Freedom (2011) • Spingarn Medal (2002) • Coretta Scott King Book Award (2017) • Presidential Medal of Freedom (2011) • Spingarn Medal (2002)
Notable Family Members	son of Eddie Lewis • son of Willie Mae Lewis • married to Lillian Miles Lewis (1968–2012 [her death]) • father of John Miles
Role In	American civil rights movement • Freedom Rides • March on Washington • Selma March
Education	Fisk University (B.A.) • American Baptist Theological Seminary (Nashville, Tennessee)

Did You Know?

During the 1963 March on Washington, Lewis was the youngest individual to give a speech.
As a child, Lewis preached to his chickens, and he once joked that his first act of nonviolent protest was refusing to eat the birds.
Lewis became the first African American lawmaker to lie in state in the rotunda of the U.S. capitol after his death in July 2020.