Helen Matthews Lewis

Helen Matthews Lewis (October 2, 1924 – September 4, 2022) was an American sociologist, historian, and activist who specialized in Appalachia and women's rights. She was noted for developing an interpretation of Appalachia as an internal United States colony, as well as designing the first academic programs for Appalachian studies. She also specialized in Appalachian oral history, collecting and preserving the experiences of Appalachian working-class women in their own words. She is known as the "grandmother of Appalachian Studies" as her work has influenced a generation of scholars who focus on Appalachia. Her parents were Hugh and Maurie Matthews, a postal worker and nurse, respectively, Her second book Remembering Our Past, Building Our Future focuses on the town of Ivanhoe, Virginia, tracing its history from when the first Europeans arrived to present day, where current citizens are trying to save the town.” Matthews Lewis' third book was published in 1995 and is called It Comes from the People: Community Development and Local Theology. This book looks closely at the community development process and what changes could be implemented to make it better. Most recently, Matthews Lewis alongside Monica Appleby released Mountain Sisters: From Convent to Community in Appalachia in 2003. The book covers the previously unknown Glenmary Sisters and their history of fighting for social justice against the church.

Personal life and death Lewis died in Abingdon, Virginia, on September 4, 2022, at the age of 97.

Academic career

University of Virginia, director of Bureau of Population and Economic Research: 1949–1952 University of Virginia, Wise, part-time instructor and part-time librarian, 1955–1967; professor: 1969–1977 East Tennessee State University, 1967–1969

Activism and independent scholarship Highlander Research and Education Center, education staff: 1977–1980, 1985–1993, 1995–1997; director: 1978–1979 Appalshop, director of Appalachian history film project: 1980–1984 National Academy of Sciences, member of committee on underground coal mine safety: 1980 Berea College, director of Appalachian Center: 1993–1995

Publications Colonialism in Modern America: The Appalachian Case, Appalachian Consortium Press, 1978, with Linda Johnson and Donald Askins Remembering Our Past, Building Our Future, Ivanhoe Civic League, 1990, with Suzanne O'Donnell It Comes from the People: Community Development and Local Theology, Temple University Press, 1995, with Mary Ann Hinsdale and Maxine Waller Mountain Sisters: From Convent to Community in Appalachia, University Press of Kentucky, 2003, with Monica Appleby

Awards and honors W.D. Weatherford Award, Berea College, 1990, for Remembering Our Past, Building Our Future Helen M. Lewis Community Service Award, for 'shaping the field of Appalachian Studies' https://www.appalachianstudies.org/awards Honorary Doctorate of Letters, Emory and Henry College, 1999 Honorary Doctorate of Divinity, Wake Forest University, 2000