Violet T. Lewis
Violet T. Lewis was an American businesswoman and educator who founded the Lewis College of Business in 1928, the only historically black college in Michigan.
Early life
Lewis was born Violet Temple Harrison on May 27, 1897, in Lima, Ohio. She was the second of the six children of William and Eva Harrison. She graduated from Lima High School in 1915. She attended Wilberforce University from 1915 to 1917.Career
Lewis' first job was as secretary to the president of Selma University in Alabama. She also taught secretarial classes in its business department. She later moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, where she worked as a bookkeeper.After noticing a large number of young unemployed people, Lewis took a $50 loan and opened the Lewis Business College in 1928 in Indianapolis. Lewis started her own radio program, "The Negro Melody Hour", with a hope of boosting enrollment to the college. The program made her the first black radio announcer in Indiana.
Lewis owned multiple small businesses in Indianapolis, including an ice cream shop and a store selling Christmas trees and fireworks. She started an additional school in Detroit, Michigan in 1939, which opened the following February. Lewis eventually closed the Indiana college once the college's success in Detroit became apparent.
She later founded the Gamma Phi Delta sorority.