Martha S. Lewis

Martha S. Lewis (February 24, 1924, in Kensett, Arkansas – July 2, 2007, in Albany, New York) was an American government official and social worker. She had a long career as a ground-breaking social worker in the metropolitan New York City area and elsewhere. In the 1970s, she was the highest ranking African-American official in any state government, as a deputy commissioner for the Department of Social Services in the New York State government. She was also a pioneer in the civil rights movement.

Education and early life Lewis received a bachelor's degree in social sciences from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff in 1944.

In 1970, Lewis was one of two dozen original founders of the Coalition of One Hundred Black Women, a civil rights organization for Black women. She was an active member of the NAACP, the National Urban League, and other civil rights organizations.

Government career Lewis held several high-level positions in the New York city and state government from the 1960s to the 1980s, under both Republican and Democratic administrations.

Mayor John Lindsay appointed her in 1964 to be deputy director for the Department of Social and Community Services at New York City Housing Authority, a public housing authority in New York City. She also volunteered with the New York State Museum, and the Cathedral of All Saints in Albany.