Lillian Miles Lewis, born March 3, 1939, indeed revered the Lord. She was the youngest of three daughters born to Mr. and Mrs. Harry W. (Mamie) Miles of Los Angeles, California. Lillian, older sister Harriet and middle sister Deborah were instilled with the love of God while attending Calvary Baptist Church. Their parents also imbued the girls with a love of and appreciation for learning. All three girls graduated from Los Angeles High School and then colleges. Lillian, and classmate, the late Johnnie Cochran, were members of the Class of 1957. Lillian earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Studies with a minor in English from what is now California State College at Los Angeles. From Cal State, Lillian entered the University of Southern California where she received a Master’s degree in Library Sciences.

Lillian’s generosity and unquenchable curiosity, which endeared her to her numerous and varied friends, was evident even as a very young woman. While a student, she travelled to Nigeria and mindful of the tremendous need there, returned after completing her education. For two years she served as a volunteer teacher in a new program that had just been implemented by then President John F. Kennedy, the Peace Corps. Later, a reluctance to travel by airplane would keep her from further overseas adventures.

Back in the United States, Lillian returned to Los Angeles for a year before accepting a position as librarian at Atlanta University in 1965. Sporting the self-assurance of a born and bred Los Angelean, Miss Lillian Miles broke through the often rigid borders of African-American society in Atlanta to become an integral part of its academic, political, cultural and social milieu. The story has become a legend now, but it was at the 1967 New Year’s Eve party of her friend, pioneering TV host and civil rights activist Xernona Clayton, that Lillian was introduced to a man she greatly admired and who would become her husband—John Robert Lewis.

Like most of the nation, she had followed his courageous battles against segregation and as Lillian put it, “I was attracted to him before I knew him. Every day and every night on the news (there) was something about what was happening in the civil rights movement, so I felt like I knew him.” John Robert Lewis and Lillian Miles were married in the sanctuary of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta on December 21, 1968. The family grew with the addition of their son, John-Miles, born May 24, 1976. It is her husband, U. S. Representative Congressman John Lewis, who credits his wife with being the proverbial power behind his political career. His first election success was to the Atlanta City Council in 1981. Elected to Congress in 1986, Lewis has served 26 years in the House of Representatives with Lillian by his side every step of the way. During his early years in Washington, Lillian held leadership roles in the auxiliary organization for spouses of Congressional Black Caucus members. The group continues to raise thousands for scholarships to advance educational opportunities. During the same time period, Mrs. Lewis assumed greater responsibilities at Clark Atlanta University. From 1984-1989 she served as Associate Director of the Institute for International Affairs and Development; from 1989—2003, Lillian was Director of External Affairs in the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs at CAU.