Breaking Racial Barriers
William Henry Lewis was born in Berkeley, Virginia, in November 28, He was the son of Ashley Henry Lewis, a Baptist Minister, and Josephine Baker. His parents were former slaves who had been freed by their master shortly before the Civil War. The family moved to Portsmouth, where the father became a respected minister. At age 15, Lewis enrolled in the state's all-black college, the Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute (now Virginia State University.)
Amherst College William Henry Lewis entered Amherst College in Here he worked as a waiter to pay for his college expenses. He also played football for three seasons. In December 1890, the Amherst team voted "almost unanimously" to elect Lewis as the team captain for his senior year. In 1888 the Amherst College football team had the first African American player. This was the first integration of an America college football team.
All-American center at Harvard After attending Amherst, in 1892 Lewis studied at Harvard Law School, playing the center position on the football team for two years. In November 1893, at Lewis’s last college football game, his excellent performance allowed him to be voted as the replacement team captain after the team captain was injured. This made him Harvard's first African- American team captain. Named to the All-America Football team in 1892 and 1893 In 2009, he was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.
Football coach at Harvard Following law school, Lewis was hired as a football coach at Harvard where he served from During his time coaching, the team had a combined record of
Throughout his career, Lewis was honest about racial issues. In 1893 a white barber in Cambridge refused to shave Lewis, he filed a suit seeking $5,000 in damages and help pass Massachusetts law against racial discrimination in public places. Civil rights leader and speaker
In 1896, Lewis published one of the first books on American football. It was called "A Primer of College Football” Lewis said, “There is no game like football.... If it hadn't been for football there is no telling what I would be today.... It gives you a general hardening and training which stands a man in good use in later life.” Author and expert on football
Lewis became a personal friend of President Theodore Roosevelt, who had also studied at Harvard. In 1903 the United States Attorney for Boston Henry P. Moulton, with the help of Roosevelt, made Lewis an Assistant United States Attorney. He was the first African- American to hold such a position.
In October 1910, President William Howard Taft made Lewis the United States Assistant Attorney General. This was the highest office ever held by an African American. Lewis was present at the White House frequently, and attended many of Taft’s functions and events. First African-American Assistant Attorney General
In 1911, Lewis also became the first African American to be admitted to the American Bar Association. Lewis became a speaker and fought for African Americans’ rights in legal professions. Lewis argued in the U.S. Supreme Court
William Henry Lewis had a heart failure and passed away on January 1, 1949 in Boston, Massachusetts. He was buried at Mt. Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Lewis’s hard work and determination changed the lives of many African Americans in this country.