Jesse Lewis

Jesse Lewis in 2013

Jesse J. Lewis Sr (born Jesse James Terror January 3, 1925 in Northport) is the founder of the Birmingham Times, former president of Lawson State Community College, and a political and public relations consultant.

Lewis was raised by his grandmother Sarah Davis, and took her last name. He dropped out of high school to enlist in the U.S. Army during World War II. He served in the 183rd Engineering Combat Battalion under General George Patton. After his discharge he began working for a rubber company in Tuscaloosa, but was fired when he attempted to organize his fellow workers into a union. His wife, Helen, helped him improve his reading skills. After he completed high school, enrolled at Booker T. Washington Business College, and then earned a bachelor's degree in business administration at Miles College. While there he met and befriended Governor George Wallace while interviewing him for the school newspaper. He later continued his studies at the University of Alabama and New York University, and earned an educational specialist degree at Troy State University, and a doctorate at Atlanta University.

Lewis worked as a reporter for the Birmingham World and Birmingham Mirror. He also worked in brand advertising for Birmingham Coca-Cola Bottling Company and was responsible for the first advertisement for the soda to feature a Black person.

He founded the Jesse J. Lewis and Associates marketing firm in 1954, with offices at 1522 4th Avenue North. After selling the successful business to his younger son Jesse Jr, he planned the launch of a national entertainment magazine called Showtime, which he sold before getting it off the ground.

Lewis, an avid golfer, was one of the first group of Black golfers to tee off at Highland Park Golf Course when it was re-opened on an integrated basis on June 29, 1963.

In 1964 Lewis founded the weekly Birmingham Times with a long-term advertising commitment from Bruno's supermarkets. Lewis joined with financier Oscar Hyde, contractor Leroy Gaillard, Jr and others to charter the American National Bank. The same group also made a bid to purchase WBMG-42, but both initiatives failed after Hyde was indicted in an extortion scheme with Attorney General Richmond Flowers.

Despite criticism for the paper's right-leaning editorials (Lewis endorsed George Wallace for Governor and both Presidents Bush), it was successful. Lewis sold the paper to his older son, James, in 1994.

Lewis was a partner in the first Black-owned Walgreen's drug store in Alabama and founded the Lewis Mortgage Investment Company.

Jesse Lewis in 1975

In 1975 Lewis was appointed to succeed Bob Simpson as head Alabama's Office of Highway and Traffic Safety, the first African American to serve in Governor George Wallace's cabinet. He was charged by federal investigators with bid rigging and mail fraud in connection with the sale of ambulances to local governments. Lewis was acquitted at trial in 1981.

Governor Wallace, normally an ex-officio member of the Alabama Board of Education, chaired a 1978 meeting at which Lewis was appointed to serve as president of Lawson State Technical College. He retired from that position in 1987.

In 1995, Lewis founded a new consulting firm, the Lewis Group, which worked under contract as a consultant for the BJCC and manages the Roebuck Municipal Golf Course. He is also the founder of Agency 54, a communications and public relations firm which operates as part of the Lewis Group.

Jesse and Helen Lewis outlived both of their sons, who died in 1995 and 2013. Helen died in 2016.

Lewis was inducted into the Birmingham Business Hall of Fame in 2019, and into the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame during the 2023 NABJ Convention in Birmingham.

Publications

• Lewis, Jesse J. Sr (2020) One Man's Opinion: Together We Can Do this. self-published

References

• Thomas, Rex (January 10, 1975) "Wallace appoints black man to his Cabinet." Associated Press
• Stewart, Virginia (February 9, 2001) "Jesse J. Lewis still an entrepreneur." Birmingham Business Journal
• Archibald, John (September 25, 2009) "BJCC's 'communicator' -- $250 an hour." The Birmingham News
• Windham, Otis (May 10, 2019) "A Look at African American Golf in Birmingham (Then and Now)" African American Golfer's Digest
• Wright, Barnett (February 4, 2021) "At age 96, Birmingham Business Legend Dr. Jesse J. Lewis Sr. Still Making History." The Birmingham Times
• Daniel, Nicole S. (August 5, 2023) "Birmingham Times Founder Dr. Jesse J. Lewis Sr. Inducted into NABJ Hall of Fame." The Birmingham Times