Archie Walter Willis Jr. (March 16, 1925 - 1988) was a lawyer, businessman, and state representative in Tennessee. He was the first African American elected to state office in Tennessee in more than 70 years. He was born in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

. He moved to Memphis in 1953 and helped establish the city's first integrated law firm. He represented

James Meredith James Howard Meredith (born June 25, 1933) is an American civil rights activist, writer, political adviser, and Air Force veteran who became, in 1962, the first African-American student admitted to the racially segregated University of Mississ ...

who was being blocked from attending the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

in Oxford, Mississippi. Part of Auction Avenue in downtown Memphis is named in his honor. The A. W. Willis Bridge is named for him. He was married to the educator and activist

Miriam DeCosta-Willis Miriam DeCosta-Willis (November 1, 1934 – January 7, 2021) was an American educator, writer, and civil rights activist. The first African-American faculty member at Memphis State University, having previously been denied admission to the school ...

from 1972 until his death in 1988.

References

Members of the Tennessee House of Representatives 1925 births 1988 deaths {{Tennessee-politician-stub

See also

References