Education and Resumes

The series documents Elma Lewis' education, family background and interactions, her speeches and writings, and the court case.  The series contains appointment books, family and personal correspondence, legal correspondence, publications, resumes, biographical sketches, and her Master's thesis.  Also included here are personal papers of Lewis' parents, Clairmont and Edwardine Lewis, including their correspondence with other family members in the West Indies.  There is some material relating to Elma Lewis' brothers, Darnley Corbin and Milton Lewis, her cousin, Philip Lewis, and her foster child, Shy Ann Tillman.  Among Milton Lewis's materials is a 1930 program sponsored by the Universal Negro Improvement Association in which he performed.  The series also contains correspondence that Lewis received from her cousins and nieces.  Of special interest are Clairmont Lewis's handwritten speeches on Marcus Garvey.

In addition the series includes correspondence relating to speaking engagements at academic institutions, cultural organizations, churches, and professional associations; transcripts of interviews with Elma Lewis, covering topics such as the arts in the African American community, children and the arts, the influence of Marcus Garvey on her life, her active role in the African American community, and the history of the Center and the School; and Lewis' writings on the history of the Center and the School, and achievements of the African American community to the arts, literature, politics, religion, and science.   

Also documented here is the court case in which she sued Rabbi Marvin Antelman of the Jewish Survival Legion for libel and he countersued.  Although there is some material on the countersuit, most of materials document Lewis' suit against the Rabbi.  The files include legal briefs and correspondence, motions, appeals, and transcripts of court proceedings.