Her mother, Mary Frances Moore, was from Rose Dale, Mississippi, and her father, Napoleon Lewis, hailed from Monroe, Louisiana.
She later received her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1946, making her one of seven African American women to earn a doctorate in history within the 1940s.
Lewis' dissertation, From National to Disunion: A Study of the Secession Movement in Arkansas, 1850-1861 marked the beginning of her notable career in academia.
A portion of her research focused on African Americans in the South for the Civil War and Reconstruction era.
[2] The piece covered the political views and thoughts of African Americans during this period and also the themes of emancipation.
The group was organized by Dr. Walter Johnson, Preston and Sterling Morton professor of American history at the University of Chicago.