One of my biggest pet peeves is when people say things like, “History is boring.” Because, how can that even be true? I’ll agree that a boring storyteller can make almost any story boring, but overall I’d argue that we tend to forget and omit the boring stuff from the record books, and what remains are stories of human perseverance and a pretty dope legacy of accomplishment. Such is the case of our subject today.
This is William H. Lewis. William was born in 1868, the son of two former slaves. After doing so many of these pieces one of my least favorite things to say is “not much is known about his early life.” It’s one of my least favorite phrases because its all too common, like, I can find the most mundane facts about people who have achieved less, but with Black subjects a lot is lost to time, and I find that super sad…but here we are!
What we do know is William’s family impressed upon him both a deep work ethic, and a reverence for education. William attended Amherst College in 1888. While earning his degree William joined the college’s football team, and during his senior year in 1891 William was voted Team Captain unanimously by his squad. Beyond his athletic achievements, he was also a very gifted speaker and debater, and was selected by the institution to be class orator, winning several awards for speech and debate. NAACP cofounder W.E.B. Du Bois even made a point of attending William’s graduation just to hear him speak.
So William graduates form Amherst and decides he wants to continue his education, so where does he apply? HARVARD! He applies to Harvard Law, which I’m told is a pretty good school, and is accepted. So, just to break all this down, our man is attending Harvard Law and also playing Harvard football. He was obviously the only Black player, and faced crazy discrimination outside of the school. In one incident the team entered the same dining establishment as the Princeton football team and the Princeton players just got up and walked out, not because of a football rivalry, but because they objected to a Black player…which like, whatever who even cares what Princeton football players thought in the 1890s? Your record was mediocre anyways!
In his last game in 1893 the Harvard team captain was unable to play, and the team again was like, “Look, William we pick you!” This would solidify William’s place in history as the first Black Harvard team captain. He was named an All-American and an article was written claiming he was he best college center to ever pick up a ball…this dude was studying law, this is remarkable! So after he graduated from Harvard, he became coach of their whole team. Over his career he led the team to a winning record of 114-15-5, that is very good!
So, you might be thinking, “Wow, he went to Harvard Law and all he chose to do was be a football coach!” And to that I would say, “Rude.” And also it’s not even the case. Dude had a notable political career and even kicked it with U.S. Presidents. Turns out Teddy Roosevelt was a big fan of Harvard football, and the two became fast friends. He helped William rise through the ranks where he became an Assistant U.S. Attorney, the first Black person to become such, and after that in 1910 Taft would appoint him as the first Black Assistant Attorney General of the United States. Dude was one of the first Black Attorneys admitted to the American Bar Association. After serving in the federal government, William started up his own private law practice.
Beyond Football and Law, William was an active Civil Rights Activist and spoke out often on discrimination. His writings on lynchings and lawlessness in Southern states were widely published and respected. He delivered speeches on discrimination and was one of three speakers at the funeral of abolitionist Julia Ward Howe.
William lived a large and important life. He passed away in 1949 at the age of 80. I think my favorite part about his story is the diversity of interests he held. He was a big brained lawyer who would take it to you on the football field. I’m very thankful be constantly discovering new heroes and today I found one in William H. Lewis.
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