Eddie Lewis, 68, a retired farmer and former sharecropper, and father of former Voter Education Project Director John Lewis of Atlanta, died Sunday in his home.
A native of Pike County, Mr. Lewis was among the first blacks who were able to purchase their own farmland in that area.
Mr. Lewis purchased his 110-acre farm, located about eight miles southeast of Troy, in 1944.
He became a registered voter following passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act as the result of a massive campaign aimed at increasing black voter participation in the South. The campaign was led in part by his son, John, who was then head of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
Lewis, an unsuccessful candidate in the Fifth District Congressional race this spring, has now been nominated by President Jimmy Carter as associate director in charge of domestic operations for ACTION.
Other survivors include his widow, the former Willa Mae Carter of Troy; daughters, Mrs. Ora Crawley of Detroit, Mich., Mrs. Ephel Tyber and Mrs. Rosa Tyner, both of Troy; sons, Edward Lewis, Samuel Lewis and Henry Lewis, all of Troy, Adolph Lewis of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and William Davis Lewis and Freddie Lewis, both of Detroit, Mich.; and sister, Mrs. Capporia Price of Lenox, Ga.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
Published in The Atlanta Constitution on June 14, 1977
A native of Pike County, Mr. Lewis was among the first blacks who were able to purchase their own farmland in that area.
Mr. Lewis purchased his 110-acre farm, located about eight miles southeast of Troy, in 1944.
He became a registered voter following passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act as the result of a massive campaign aimed at increasing black voter participation in the South. The campaign was led in part by his son, John, who was then head of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
Lewis, an unsuccessful candidate in the Fifth District Congressional race this spring, has now been nominated by President Jimmy Carter as associate director in charge of domestic operations for ACTION.
Other survivors include his widow, the former Willa Mae Carter of Troy; daughters, Mrs. Ora Crawley of Detroit, Mich., Mrs. Ephel Tyber and Mrs. Rosa Tyner, both of Troy; sons, Edward Lewis, Samuel Lewis and Henry Lewis, all of Troy, Adolph Lewis of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and William Davis Lewis and Freddie Lewis, both of Detroit, Mich.; and sister, Mrs. Capporia Price of Lenox, Ga.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
Published in The Atlanta Constitution on June 14, 1977
Eddie Lewis, 68, a retired farmer and former sharecropper, and father of former Voter Education Project Director John Lewis of Atlanta, died Sunday in his home.
A native of Pike County, Mr. Lewis was among the first blacks who were able to purchase their own farmland in that area.
Mr. Lewis purchased his 110-acre farm, located about eight miles southeast of Troy, in 1944.
He became a registered voter following passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act as the result of a massive campaign aimed at increasing black voter participation in the South. The campaign was led in part by his son, John, who was then head of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
Lewis, an unsuccessful candidate in the Fifth District Congressional race this spring, has now been nominated by President Jimmy Carter as associate director in charge of domestic operations for ACTION.
Other survivors include his widow, the former Willa Mae Carter of Troy; daughters, Mrs. Ora Crawley of Detroit, Mich., Mrs. Ephel Tyber and Mrs. Rosa Tyner, both of Troy; sons, Edward Lewis, Samuel Lewis and Henry Lewis, all of Troy, Adolph Lewis of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and William Davis Lewis and Freddie Lewis, both of Detroit, Mich.; and sister, Mrs. Capporia Price of Lenox, Ga.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
Published in The Atlanta Constitution on June 14, 1977
A native of Pike County, Mr. Lewis was among the first blacks who were able to purchase their own farmland in that area.
Mr. Lewis purchased his 110-acre farm, located about eight miles southeast of Troy, in 1944.
He became a registered voter following passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act as the result of a massive campaign aimed at increasing black voter participation in the South. The campaign was led in part by his son, John, who was then head of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
Lewis, an unsuccessful candidate in the Fifth District Congressional race this spring, has now been nominated by President Jimmy Carter as associate director in charge of domestic operations for ACTION.
Other survivors include his widow, the former Willa Mae Carter of Troy; daughters, Mrs. Ora Crawley of Detroit, Mich., Mrs. Ephel Tyber and Mrs. Rosa Tyner, both of Troy; sons, Edward Lewis, Samuel Lewis and Henry Lewis, all of Troy, Adolph Lewis of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and William Davis Lewis and Freddie Lewis, both of Detroit, Mich.; and sister, Mrs. Capporia Price of Lenox, Ga.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
Published in The Atlanta Constitution on June 14, 1977
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