Edythe M. "Delilah" Lewis (February 26, 1924 – June 5, 2014) was the first

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

, female

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Day ...

, United States, in the 1950s.

Early life and education

Lewis was born Edythe Mulzac, raised in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

and trained as a nurse at

Harlem Hospital Harlem Hospital Center, branded as NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem, is a 272-bed, public teaching hospital affiliated with Columbia University. It is located at 506 Lenox Avenue in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City and was founded in 1887. The hosp ...

in New York. Later, she earned her bachelor's degree in Education from the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...

and then two master's degrees.

Career

Lewis was the first black woman to host a radio show in Dayton, Ohio, broadcasting on WING-AM as Delilah in the 1950s. She was inducted into the Dayton Area Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2003. The ''

Dayton Daily News The ''Dayton Daily News'' (''DDN'') is a daily newspaper published in Dayton, Ohio, United States. It is owned by Cox Enterprises, Inc., a privately held global conglomerate headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, with approximately ...

'' called her a pioneer and said she was a role model during a period when there were very few black people in the broadcasting industry. In 1971, she was hired by the

Miami Conservancy District The Miami Conservancy District is a river management agency operating in Southwest Ohio to control flooding of the Great Miami River and its tributaries. It was organized in 1915 following the catastrophic Great Dayton Flood of the Great Miami R ...

. She later became the District's executive director. In 1976, Governor

James A. Rhodes James Allen Rhodes (September 13, 1909 – March 4, 2001) was an American Republican politician who served as Governor of Ohio from 1963 to 1971 and again from 1975 to 1983. , Rhodes was one of only seven U.S. governors to serve four four-year ...

appointed her to the Ohio Recreation and Resources Commission. In 1979 she was named one of Dayton's Top 10 Women by the ''Dayton Daily News''. Lewis retired from the District in the early 1980s. She served on the boards of

Wright State University Wright State University is a public research university in Fairborn, Ohio. Originally opened in 1964 as a branch campus of Miami University and Ohio State University, it became an independent institution in 1967 and was named in honor of aviation ...

and the

Children's Medical Center Children's Medical Center Dallas is a nationally ranked pediatric acute care teaching hospital located in Dallas, Texas, USA. The hospital has 496 pediatric beds and is affiliated with the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. It provides ...

, among others. In 2001, her husband Lloyd E. Lewis Jr., a member of the Dayton City Commission, died, and she was elected in a special election to fill out the remaining months of his term, defeating Republican Abner Orick.

Personal life

Lewis died on June 5, 2014 from complications from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

Recognition

* 1979: Top 10 Women * 2003: Dayton Broadcasting Hall of Fame

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Edythe 1924 births 2014 deaths People from Dayton, Ohio American radio personalities African-American radio personalities Dayton City Council members 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century American politicians African-American women in politics African-American people in Ohio politics People from Harlem University of Cincinnati alumni Wright State University alumni Central Michigan University alumni Women DJs African-American DJs Neurological disease deaths in the United States Deaths from Alzheimer's disease African-American women musicians 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women