United States
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John Lewis
Troy, Alabama, United States
Archival Overview
American statesman and civil rights leader who was one of the 'Big Six' leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, survived brutal beatings on Bloody Sunday in Selma, and served over three decades in Congress.
Biographical Record
John Robert Lewis (1940 – 2020) was an American politician and civil rights titan who dedicated his life to nonviolent struggle. As a young theology student, Lewis participated in the Nashville lunch counter sit-ins and was among the original 13 Freedom Riders savagely beaten by white mobs in Alabama in 1961.
As chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) from 1963 to 1966, Lewis was the youngest speaker at the historic 1963 March on Washington. On March 7, 1965, while leading 600 voting rights marchers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, state troopers fractured his skull in the 'Bloody Sunday' assault, televised images of which shocked the world and compelled President Lyndon B. Johnson to sign the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Lewis subsequently served 33 years as a US Representative from Georgia, revered as the 'Conscience of the Congress'.
Key Life Milestones
Keynote at the March on Washington
Spoke on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial as SNCC Chairman, calling for immediate constitutional democracy.
Bloody Sunday at Selma
Led the voting rights march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, surviving brutal police violence that led to the Voting Rights Act.
Memorial Guestbook & Tributes
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Final Resting Place
Perpetual MemorialAtlanta, Georgia, United States