GEORGIA’S AMERICAN JOURNEY: John R. Lewis Elementary School: A legacy of progress and hope
How a Georgia elementary school honors civil rights legend John Lewis by inspiring students to pursue justice, courage, and excellence every day.
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – As America celebrates its 250th anniversary, symbols of justice and progress take center stage. In Macon, Georgia, John R. Lewis Elementary School stands as a powerful testament to the Civil Rights Movement’s enduring legacy—a place where education and equality are inseparable. Renamed in July 2020, shortly after the passing of civil rights icon and Congressman John Lewis, the school has become a beacon of progress and possibility for every child who walks through our doors.
Where African Americans were once denied the right to read, write, and learn alongside white students, now the name of a Black civil rights leader is displayed above the entrance. “Look how far we’ve come because of the work that he’s put in, day in and day out throughout his entire life, and how fortunate we are to still benefit from that to this day,” said Jerrick Lewis, the congressman’s nephew and executive director of the John R. Lewis Legacy Institute.
John Lewis’s journey was marked by courage and conviction. After being denied admission to Troy University because of his race, Lewis wrote to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for guidance. Dr. King invited him to meet, advising him he could sue the university for discrimination, but it would be dangerous for your family. Instead, Lewis chose a different path—attending the American Baptist Theological Seminary and later earning his degree from Fisk University.
Lewis’s activism began in college, organizing sit-ins at segregated Nashville lunch counters. He famously encouraged others to get into “good trouble, necessary trouble” to drive change—a motto he lived by. “He always said your vote is the most powerful nonviolent tool you have in this world,” recalled Jerrick Lewis.
Despite facing violence at nearly every turn, Lewis stood firm in his commitment to nonviolence. At just 21, he became the first Freedom Rider assaulted in Rock Hill, South Carolina, for entering a whites-only waiting room. Principal Hurley emphasizes, “John R. Lewis was a young man who excelled in school, and here at John R. Lewis, we ask our students every day to show what they know, and when they do that, that means being here, present every day, being engaged in their academics.”
Today, John R. Lewis Elementary School stands as a tribute and a sign of inspiration that echoes through every classroom and every generation.
