ATLANTA — A new biography of John Lewis promises a “comprehensive, authoritative” look back at the life of the Civil Rights leader and congressman.
Lewis represented Georgia’s 5th District in the House of Representatives for nearly 20 years.
David Greenberg, a professor of history and journalism at Rutgers, has written several books about American history and politics, and spoke to approximately 275 friends, relatives, and associates of Lewis while researching the book, according to publisher Simon & Schuster.
Greenberg interviewed Lewis himself three times, twice during the last months of his life.
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Greenberg said he was able to review never-before-used FBI files on Lewis as source material and papers from a longtime friend of Lewis who had intended to write a biography but never did.
“Obviously I admired John Lewis at the start of this project. I’m grateful to have been able to meet with him at the start of my research and get his blessing,” said Greenberg. “But in the course of it, I came to see him as a more complicated person than his public image, and also as a more pragmatic and canny politician than I think most people realized.”
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Lewis was involved in organizing the 1963 March on Washington and played a key role in the civil rights movement to end legalized racial segregation in the United States.
He was a member of the Atlanta City Council from 1982 through 1985 and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia’s 5th district in 1986 and served 17 terms.
Lewis died July 17, 2020.
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