Martha S. Lewis (February 24, 1924 in Kensett,

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

– July 2, 2007 in

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) was an

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government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

official and

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

er. She had a long career as a ground-breaking social worker in the metropolitan

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area and elsewhere. In the 1970s, she was the highest ranking

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

official in any state government, as a deputy commissioner for the Department of Social Services in the

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.Bob Conner, "Nursing mothers make a statement: Women gather to feed their infants at State Museum following incident", Saturday, February 23, 2008, Schenectady ''

Daily Gazette ''The Daily Gazette'' is an independent, family-owned daily newspaper published in Schenectady, New York. ''The Daily Gazette'' also owns and operates ''The Amsterdam Recorder'', ''The Gloversville Leader-Herald'' and ''Your Niskayuna''. Hist ...

'', found a
Schenectady Gazette article about Nursing Mothers at the NYS Museum
Accessed April 15, 2008.Who's Who Among African-Americans (16th ed. 2003), p. 796. . She was also a pioneer in the

civil rights movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

Education and early life

Lewis received a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

social sciences Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soci ...

from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff"Lewis, Martha S.," Obituary, ''

Albany Times Union The ''Times Union'' is an American daily newspaper, serving the Capital Region of New York. Although the newspaper focuses on Albany and its suburbs, it covers all parts of the four-county area, including the cities of Troy, Schenectady and Sar ...

'', July 5–6, 2007 (search for Lewis, Martha a
Legacy.com Obituary web site
Accessed April 15, 2008.) in 1944. She next earned her Master of Social Work (MSW) degree from

Atlanta University Clark Atlanta University (CAU or Clark Atlanta) is a private, Methodist, historically black research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Clark Atlanta is the first Historically Black College or University (HBCU) in the Southern United States. Founde ...

School of Social Work in 1947. She also briefly attended the

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

's School of Government.

Civil rights activism and social work

Lewis began her social work career by working in the 1950s with

youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. You ...

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Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

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, and New York City. As an expert on

juvenile delinquency Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, is the act of participating in unlawful behavior as a minor or individual younger than the statutory age of majority. In the United States of America, a juvenile delinquent is a person ...

and deviance, she wrote the seminal 1961 report ''The Girl Delinquent and the Male Street-Corner Gang''.''The Girl Delinquent and the Male Street Corner Gang'' eportpresented at the eighty-eighth annual forum, National Conference on Social Welfare, Minneapolis, Minnesota, May 15, 1961. by Martha S Lewis; National Conference on Social Welfare. Forum. ew York? 1961?OCLC:6788569
WorldCat
/ref> In 1970, Lewis was one of two dozen original founders of the Coalition of One Hundred Black Women, a

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

organization for Black women. She was an active member of the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

, the National Urban League, and other civil rights organizations.The New York Red Book. Albany: New York Legal Publishing. (Bicentential Edition 1777-1977) p. 839.

Government career

Lewis held several high-level positions in the New York city and state government from the 1960s to the 1980s, under both Republican and

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

administrations.New York State Museum web site press release
. Accessed March 30, 2008. Mayor John Lindsay appointed her in 1964 to be deputy director for the Department of Social and Community Services at New York City Housing Authority, a

public housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...

authority in

. In 1968, Mayor Lindsay next appointed her to run the "Operation Better Block", which was a prototype for block associations. She worked as a consultant in the early 1970s. Finally, she served as the director of the Department of Social and Community Services for the New York City Housing Authority from 1972 to 1975, also under Lindsay. In 1975, she was appointed a deputy commissioner for special projects for the state Department of Social Services by the newly elected

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Hugh L. Carey Hugh Leo Carey (April 11, 1919 – August 7, 2011) was an American politician and attorney. He was a seven-term U.S. representative from 1961 to 1974 and the 51st governor of New York from 1975 to 1982. He was a member of the Democratic Party. ...

. In 1977, she became deputy commissioner for the New York City metropolitan area. After retirement, she served on the board of the Cathedral Choral Society of the Washington National Cathedral. She also volunteered with the New York State Museum, The Girl Friends, Inc.,Girl Talk, The Girl Friends, Inc., Newsletter
Accessed April 15, 2008. and the Cathedral of All Saints in Albany.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Martha S. People from Pine Bluff, Arkansas People from Albany, New York American social workers Harvard Kennedy School alumni Activists for African-American civil rights Clark Atlanta University alumni 1924 births 2007 deaths People from Kensett, Arkansas Activists from New York (state)

Education and early life

Civil rights activism and social work

Government career

See also

References