Fred Lewis
Marshall, Harrison County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Educator, NAACP officer and civil rights activist Fred Lewis (1912-2002), managed Ruth Starr Blake's estate after he returned from WWII. Lewis was influential in restoring voting rights for African American Texans. The first White Citizens Party was formed in 1878 in Harrison county by several officiers of the Texas and Pacific Railroad, including Amory Starr (1847-1906). In 1923, the Texas legislature passed a law that excluded African Americans from voting in the Democratic Party primary. Fred Lewis advanced the case, Perry v. Cyphers, to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals by raising funds and partnering with statewide NAACP leadership. In 1951, the court decision ended the white primary system and restored the vote to African Americans in Harrison county.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Educator and NAACP officer Fred Lewis returned from World War II to a Harrison County where African Americans had been shut out of the ballot box for generations. Since 1878 a White Citizens Party had entrenched white political control, and an all-white Democratic primary, sanctioned by a 1923 state law, kept Black Texans from meaningful voting. Lewis raised funds and worked with statewide NAACP leaders to carry the case of Perry v. Cyphers to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. In 1951 the court struck down the white primary in Harrison County, restoring the vote to its African American citizens.
Why it matters
Lewis's legal campaign was part of the long grassroots struggle that dismantled the white primary and reopened Southern democracy to Black voters. His work links a single East Texas county to the national civil rights movement for voting rights.
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Related people
- · Fred Lewis
- · Amory Starr
- · Ruth Starr Blake
Related events
- · Perry v. Cyphers
Themes & tags
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