More information about how Congress mourns its own can be found at our post “ What Happens When a Member of Congress Dies?” Tributes from Lewis’ colleagues can be found below. Representative Sanford Bishop, the dean of the Georgia Congressional Delegation, will lead a moment of silence in Lewis’ memory on Monday. When a sitting Member of Congress dies, their colleagues mark their passing in a number of ways, including lowering the flag over the Capitol to half-staff and adopting a memorial resolution. Lewis’ family has not announced funeral plans yet. President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor, in 2011. Lewis received numerous honorary degrees and awards for his public service. In Congress, Lewis continued his advocacy of civil rights and was instrumental in legislative initiatives such as the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the creation of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the newest of the Smithsonian Institution museums. He was also the Chairman of the Oversight Subcommittee on the Way and Means Committee. At the time of his death, he was the House Democrats’ Senior Chief Deputy Whip. Five years later, he was elected to represent the Fifth Congressional District of Georgia. Lewis’ career in elective public office began in 1981, when voters elected him to Atlanta City Council. Following that, he was the Associate Director of the Field Foundation and later the Director of the Voter Education Project. From 1963 through 1966, he was the Chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Lewis served as an officer in a number of organizations dedicated to advancing civil rights. Prior to Lewis’ death, some called for the bridge-named after a Confederate brigadier general-to be renamed in honor of the Congressman, and in the days following his death, these calls have been renewed. The following year, Congress awarded the Congressional Gold Medal to the “Foot Soldiers” who participated in the marches in 1965. Bush, many Members of Congress and other leaders. On the 50 th anniversary, in March 2015, he was joined by then President and First Lady Obama, former First Lady Laura and President George W.
Outcry over Bloody Sunday helped contribute to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.Īs a Congressman, each year, Lewis led groups of legislators to the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Lewis suffered a fractured skull in the attack. This day became known as “Bloody Sunday,” since the Alabama state police and deputies brutally attacked the non-violent protestors on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. He was also a leader of the March 7, 1965, Selma to Montgomery march to protest the disenfranchisement of minorities. Lewis was a keynote speaker alongside King at this event. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his famous “I Have A Dream” speech. In 1963, he helped organize the March on Washington, where Dr. He organized sit-ins at segregated lunch counters in Nashville and also participated in Freedom Rides, in which he and others sat in places reserved for white patrons at interstate bus stations in the South. While attending Fisk University, a historically black university in Nashville, Tennessee, he was active in non-violent demonstrations to challenge Jim Crow laws in the South. His parents were sharecroppers and he attended segregated schools. Lewis was born on February 21, 1940, near Troy, Alabama. Lewis, 80, represented the 5 th Congressional District of Georgia since January 1987.Įven before his lengthy congressional career, Lewis dedicated many years to public service through the Civil Rights Movement. John Lewis (Source: Wikimedia Commons)Ĭongress is mourning the loss of one of its legendary Members, as Representative John Lewis of Georgia died from pancreatic cancer on Friday.
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