Across the country, schools, lawmakers, cities — and even shipbuilders — have honored civil rights icon John Lewis in the year since his death.
»Watch a replay of the christening of the USNS John Lewis
And while tributes continue to be unveiled in Atlanta, the congressman who represented the city for 33 years had an influence far outside his beloved 5th District.
Here are the places outside Georgia where his name will live on in tribute:
Credit: Alyssa Pointer
Credit: Alyssa Pointer
The John Lewis Voting Rights Act: Lewis made voting rights his signature issue in Congress and was at President Lyndon Johnson’s side when its original version was signed into law in 1965. It’s fittting then, that the bill to extend that law would bear Lewis’ name. Last year, the bill was renamed for Lewis in the weeks after his death. That session, the bill passed the House but couldn’t make it out of committee in the Senate. This year, Democrats plan to reintroduce the bill, but its future is uncertain.
Credit: General Dynamics NASSCO
Credit: General Dynamics NASSCO
USNS John Lewis: The first of six Navy oiler ships in a class bearing Lewis’ name was launched in January in the San Diego shipyard where it was built. A formal christening is planned for the anniversary of Lewis’ death. Lewis participated in an earlier naming ceremony in 2019, when he welded his initials onto the 742-foot-long refueling vessel.
Credit: General Dynamics NASSCO
Credit: General Dynamics NASSCO
Monument at the Civil Rights Memorial Park (Selma, Alabama): The park is located at the Edmund Pettus Bridge, near the spot where Lewis and other marchers were first attacked by state troopers and sheriff’s deputies in 1965. The small park includes four monuments (see image at top) dedicated to the march’s leaders — Lewis, the Rev. Hosea Williams, Amelia Boynton Robinson and Marie Foster. The tribute was created in 2004 by civil rights activist Evelyn Gibson Lowery, also the wife of the Rev. Joseph Lowery.
Credit: Michael W. Bunch / Metro Photographer
Credit: Michael W. Bunch / Metro Photographer
Rep. John Lewis Way (Nashville, Tennessee): Lewis’ roots in Nashville run deep. As he said himself: “Nashville prepared me. If it hadn’t been for Nashville, I would not be the person I am now.” In addition to attending American Baptist Theological Seminary and Fisk University, Lewis began his civil rights work there, participating in sit-ins and learning nonviolent protest tactics from the Rev. James Lawson. In November 2020, city leaders voted to rename a stretch of Fifth Avenue in the city’s downtown to honor Lewis. The new street signs were installed in January, and a dedication ceremony will take place July 17.
The John R. Lewis Center for Social Justice at Fisk University (Nashville, Tennessee.): Lewis’ alma mater announced in July 2020 that the center would be a “continuation” of the Fisk Race Relations Institute. That earlier incarnation was launched in 1942 and was influential in the decades of the 1960s and ’70s before being dissolved in 2005. The new center will include a master’s program in social justice, several certificate programs and various undergraduate projects. Fisk President Kevin D. Rome said that Lewis, “embodied the very best of humanity — his kindness, perseverance and unwavering commitment to fighting for those in need set an example for all the young people who are looking to create a better world.”
Credit: Joey Meredith / Troy University
Credit: Joey Meredith / Troy University
John R. Lewis Hall (Troy University in Troy, Alabama): Troy University, in Lewis’ hometown, renamed the main building on its campus in his honor in November. In his youth, Lewis applied to the school in an attempt to desegregate it. Although unsuccessful, the effort caught the attention of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. King sometimes jokingly referred to Lewis as “the boy from Troy.” Decades later, Troy University awarded Lewis an honorary doctorate. Lewis Hall had previously been named after Bibb Graves, a former Alabama governor and Ku Klux Klan leader.
John Lewis Institute for Social Justice at Central Connecticut State University (New Britain, Connecticut): The institute was conceived in the summer of 2020 following Lewis’ death and launched in February. According to its website, it was founded after students expressed interest in learning more about social justice. The institute is in the process of recruiting its first scholars, who, the university promises, will study “social justice practices in a deeper context” with an eye on getting into “good trouble.”
Credit: Donnie Biggs
Credit: Donnie Biggs
John R. Lewis High School (Springfield, Virginia.): The Fairfax County school board selected John Lewis as this school’s new namesake in July 2020. The school had been called Robert E. Lee High School since it opened in 1958, and members of the community spent years campaigning to remove the Confederate general’s name. At the time of Lewis’ death, the school board had already voted to remove Lee’s name and was debating whose name should replace it. According to the school district, more than 85% of Lewis High School’s students are people of color.
Credit: Office of House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer
Credit: Office of House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer
Steny Hoyer’s tribute to John Lewis (U.S. Capitol, Washington): U.S. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) placed a memorial placard outside his Capitol office soon after Lewis’ death, but that tribute was destroyed during the Jan. 6 insurrection. Hoyer, a friend of Lewis’, soon replaced the placard, which includes a “good trouble” quote. Hoyer, by the way, is the representative of Maryland’s 5th District.
Also under consideration
Renaming the Edmund Pettus Bridge (Selma, Alabama): The bridge is the site of “Bloody Sunday,” where John Lewis and hundreds of other peaceful protesters were attacked by state troopers and sheriff’s deputies in 1965. (Pettus, a reputed KKK grand wizard, fought for the Confederacy and was a U.S. senator.) The idea to rename the bridge for Lewis has been floated for years, but it got more attention following Lewis’ death. A change.org petition has garnered more than 500,000 signatures, but it’s unclear whether these efforts will gain traction. Not all civil rights activists are on board with the idea.
The John R. Lewis Memorial 10 Highway (Selma to Montgomery): In May, a bill that would have renamed a section of U.S. 80 for Lewis fell short of being passed by the Alabama Legislature. U.S. 80 was the intended route of the marchers who were attacked on Bloody Sunday and the route taken by the marchers who later completed the trek to the state Capitol.
A John Lewis statue in Statuary Hall (Washington): Members of Georgia’s General Assembly are considering replacing a statue of Alexander Stephens, vice president of the Confederacy, with one of John Lewis. A bill that would authorize the change and begin the process of raising funds for the creation of a new statute is pending in the General Assembly.
