Draft:Morris Lewis (civil rights leader)

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Morris W. Lewis and Oscar Stanton De Priest (sitting), 1929
Morris W. Lewis and Oscar Stanton De Priest (sitting), 1929

Morris W. Lewis (?) was an American civil rights leader, and a U.S. Capitol office worker. He served as the secretary to Oscar Stanton De Priest in 1934, the only African American member of the U.S. House of Representatives.[1][2] Lewis and his son were Black and denied restaurant service at the U.S. House of Representatives public restaurant at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. in 1934.[1][3][4] As a result, he helped organize the first sit-in demonstration against Jim Crow laws in the Washington, D.C. area.[1][5][6]

Biography[edit]

Lewis was an executive secretary at the Chicago NAACP from 1921 to 1928.[7][8][9] Lewis frequently disagreed openly with Chicago NAACP leaders of the early 1920s, including with Harold L. Ickes and Charles Edwin Bentley.[8] In 1925, a surgeon in Chicago was elected as the first Black president of the Chicago NAACP, Dr. Carl Glennis Roberts (1886–1950); and Lewis worked closely with Roberts.[8]

In 1924, Lewis was elected as a Conciliation Commissioner in Chicago, a role within the U.S. Department of Labor.[10]

He worked in the 1920s as a circulation manager for The Chicago Defender.[when?]

He was an official for the Wabash Avenue YMCA, an African American branch of the YMCA.[when?]

1934 U.S. Capitol restaurant segregation[edit]

On January 23, 1934, Lewis and his son were denied service at the restaurant at the U.S. Capitol.[11] North Carolina's democratic politician and congressman, Lindsay C. Warren led the accounting committee and claimed he had ordered the restaurant to deny services to any "colored" people.[11][12] By March, the local NAACP became involved, they started a letter writing campaign, and Howard University students protested.[13]

The restaurant became "for members only" after the incident, and it was opened to the White public for dining, however it required "colored" diners to be invite by a member.[14]

Death and legacy[edit]

He died ?

The University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries contain the W. E. B. Du Bois Papers including correspondence with Lewis.[15][16][17] The Library of Congress has a photograph of him and DePriest from May 1929.[18]

Earlier events of segregation at the U.S. Capitol restaurants (1902–1921)[edit]

In 1902, the Rice Belt Journal in Louisiana lamented that Cyrus A. Sulloway ate with his "negro messenger" sitting at one table and "break bread together."[1] In 1903 the Daily Ardmoreite of Indiana disparaged U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt's Republican policies and complained about African Americans dining with whites at restaurants at the U.S. Capitol.[1] Incidents where protests from Democrat politicians outraged at the presence of African American diners occurred in the years following and in 1913 U.S. president Woodrow Wilson and the Democrats who won control fired African American employees at the capitol including barbers, messengers, and waiters.[1] James B. Aswell a Louisiana Democrat complained to Republican Clifford Ireland about African Americans being served at the House restaurant in 1921.[1]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, Craig (February 26, 2018). "Origins of the civil rights sit in–U.S. Capitol: 1934". Washington Area Spark. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
  2. ^ Mann, Kenneth Eugene (1972). "Oscar Stanton DePriest: Persuasive Agent for the Black Masses". Negro History Bulletin. 35 (6): 134–137. ISSN 0028-2529. JSTOR 24767380.
  3. ^ Black Americans in Congress, 1870-2007. United States Congress. 2008-10-03. p. 281. ISBN 978-0-16-080194-5.
  4. ^ Beth L. Savage, ed. (1995). "Oscar Stanton DePriest House". African American Historic Places. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 205–206. ISBN 978-0-471-14345-1.
  5. ^ "Closing of House Cafe Advocated". Evening star (Washington, District of Columbia). April 26, 1934. Retrieved 2023-05-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Lawson, Edward (1934-06-02). "Lindsey Warren Tells of "Jim-Crow" Wing of the House "Near The Kitchen"". New Pittsburgh Courier. p. 2. Retrieved 2024-05-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Knott, Cheryl (February 14, 2017). Not Free, Not for All: Public Libraries in the Age of Jim Crow. UMass and ORM. p. 12. ISBN 978-1-61376-433-6 – via Google Books.
  8. ^ a b c Reed, Christopher Robert (November 22, 1997). The Chicago NAACP and the Rise of Black Professional Leadership, 1910–1966. Indiana University Press. pp. 51–59. ISBN 978-0-253-33313-1 – via Google Books.
  9. ^ "Associated Press (White) Corrects False Report of Chicago Papers In Alleged Crime". The Press-Forum Weekly. 1923-09-29. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-05-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Morris Lewis, Chicago, New Conciliation Commissioner". The New York Age. 1924-02-16. p. 7. Retrieved 2024-05-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ a b "Negrophobe Confirmed As Controller General". New Pittsburgh Courier. 1940-08-10. p. 18. Retrieved 2024-05-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Take Your Choice!! Let's Look At The Record". California Eagle. 1936-10-16. p. 14. Retrieved 2024-05-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "An Insult to the Race (reprint)". The New York Age. August 10, 1940. p. 12. Retrieved 2024-05-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Pearson Says Senate Employe Ordered Not To Eat On "Hill"". Alabama Tribune. March 14, 1947. p. 2. Retrieved 2024-05-07.
  15. ^ "W. E. B. Du Bois Papers, Letter from W. E. B. Du Bois to Morris Lewis, July 17, 1929". UMass Amherst Libraries, University of Massachusetts Amherst. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
  16. ^ "W. E. B. Du Bois Papers, Letter from W. E. B. Du Bois to Morris Lewis, October 7, 1929". UMass Amherst Libraries, University of Massachusetts Amherst. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
  17. ^ "W. E. B. Du Bois Papers, Letter from Morris Lewis to W. E. B. Du Bois". UMass Amherst Libraries, University of Massachusetts Amherst. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
  18. ^ "Morris Lewis & Oscar DePriest, 5/8/29". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
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