Sarah C. Lewis was born on February 24, 1872, in Staunton, Augusta County, Virginia, to Fanny (née Mosby/Moseby) and William W.

After attending public school in Staunton, Lewis went on to earn a teaching certificate from Hartshorn Memorial College in Richmond.

[5] Returning to her hometown, Lewis began teaching in the Staunton Public School system, where she worked until her marriage.

[6][7] The couple had moved to Baltimore, Maryland by 1901, when Adams became a congregant and had her son baptized at St. Katherine of Alexandria,[8] a "colored mission" of the Mount Calvary Church.

[13] She later served the treasurer of the Inter-Racial Cooperative Committee of Chicago, which raised funds to maintain the Amanda Smith Industrial School for Girls in Harvey, Illinois.

[15] In order to directly address the issues affecting Black youth, Adams served as a member of the Women's City Club and Y.W.C.A.

[13][14] She realized the importance of the Black women's leadership and served as both a judge and a clerk at the Illinois Home and Aid Society Board.

[21] In 1916, she attended the National Equal Rights League Conference held in Washington, D.C, as a delegate for the Alpha Suffrage Club, ⁣[11][22] for which she served as vice president, under Ida B.

[11][15] At the conclusion of the war, she returned to her work on suffrage and attended the organizational conference in 1920 of the League of Women Voters (LWV), held in Chicago.

The National LWV supported the act, but it was controversial because it required states to match the federal contributions to the program and organize implementation.

[13] In 1924, the National Association of Colored Women (NACW) held their 14th Convention in Chicago and Adams not only chaired the committee organizing the arrangements, but also presented the keys to the city to Hallie Q.