March: Book One
Selma, Alabama is much in the news lately–first with the Academy Award nominated film, and then with the many observances of the 50th anniversary of the heroic march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
One of the many heroes of that day was John Robert Lewis. Born in Troy, Alabama, to sharecropper parents, Lewis attended the American Baptist Theological Seminary and at Fisk University both in Nashville, Tennessee, where he became a leader in the Nashville sit-ins. He became dedicated to the discipline of non-violence which he still practices today. The sit-ins were responsible for desegregating the lunch counters in downtown Nashville.
He also participated in Freedom Rides sponsored by the Congress of Racial Equality or CORE,
John Lewis
led by James Farmer and ultimately became a national leader in the struggle for civil rights and respect for human dignity. He became the youngest of the Big Six civil rights leaders and the chairman of the SNCC (Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee). While he was chairman, the SNCC opened Freedom Schools,
launched the Mississippi Freedom Summer, and organized the voter registration efforts that led to the pivotal Selma to Montgomery marches. Lewis still bears the scars of the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
John Lewis is currently the U. S. Representative from Georgia’s 5th district, an office he has held 
since 1987.
In our Special Collections, we have a copy of March, a graphic novel Mr. Lewis shares his memories of his early life and philosophy. The book is signed by Mr. Lewis, the author and the illustrator.