Lemuel L. Foster

Lemuel Lewis Foster Sr. (1890–1981) was an American civil servant, business executive, race relations consultant, singer, and deacon. He was African American and worked as an executive of R. H. Macy & Company (now Macy's), as well as work as a supervisor in the Division of Negro Economics at the United States Department of Labor. He held many community leadership roles in the 20th century in Harlem, New York City.

Early life and education Lemuel Lewis Foster was born on November 3, 1890, in Meridian, Mississippi. Foster later attended Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, where in the 1910s he was a member of the Fisk Jubilee Singers, an African-American a cappella ensemble consisting of Fisk University students. He was the bass vocals and the business manager.

Foster married his Fisk University classmate, Netta Mae Mosely in 1911, and together they had three children.

Career Foster worked at Kowaliga Industrial School in Kowaliga, Alabama for a year after graduation.

Starting in 1920, Foster worked as an executive secretary of the Urban League of Atlanta (now the National Urban League).

During World War II, Foster worked as a race relations analyst for the United States Army. He left his role in April 1949, but continued his work as a consultant of personnel and race relations.

Foster was a trustee and deacon at Grace Congregational Church of Harlem.

Death Foster died at the age of 90 on June 20, 1981, in New York Hospital (now Weill Cornell Medical Center) in New York City. He is interred at Ferncliff Cemetery and Mausoleum in Hartsdale, New York. He was survived by his three children.