R.S. Lewis & Sons Funeral Home has operated continuously in downtown

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the County seat, seat of Shelby County, Tennessee, Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 Uni ...

since 1914. The home has held services for many prominent African-Americans, including

Benjamin Hooks Benjamin Lawson Hooks (January 31, 1925 – April 15, 2010) was an American civil rights leader and government official. A Baptist minister and practicing attorney, he served as executive director of the National Association for the Advancem ...

and

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

The Lewis family was known for its civic leadership.

Civic leadership

Robert Lewis Sr. opened the funeral home at the corner of Beale and Fourth Street in downtown Memphis in 1914. In 1922, Lewis purchased the

Memphis Red Sox The Memphis Red Sox were an American Negro league baseball team that was active from 1920 to 1959. Originally named the Barber College Baseball Club, the team was initially owned and operated by Arthur P. Martin, a local Memphis barber. In the la ...

, a baseball team in the

Negro leagues The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

. He also financed the construction of Martin Stadium (sometimes called "Lewis Park") in Memphis. At the time, the city's hotels were racially segregated, and opposing team members were lodged at the funeral home. Lewis' sons Clarence Lewis and Robert Lewis Jr. took over the family business. Robert Lewis Jr. became a business leader in Memphis, and was noted for his efforts at establishing

T. O. Fuller State Park T.O. Fuller State Park is a state park in the city of Memphis, Tennessee, USA. It consists of of mostly forest located in South Memphis on Mitchell Road. It is the only state park within the city limits and is suitable for wildlife. The park ...

. Other noted achievements include advocating for the hiring of the first African-American firefighters in Memphis in 1955, being the first African-American appointed to the city's Alcohol Beverage Commission, and establishing the first Cotton Makers Jubilee.

Martin Luther King Jr.

was assassinated in Memphis on the evening of April 4, 1968. During King's visit to Memphis, the Lewis funeral home had provided him with a chauffeured limousine. The driver, Solomon Jones, an employee of the Lewis Funeral Home, was one of the last people to speak to King before he was shot, and also attempted to chase the shooter, to no avail. After the shooting, King was taken by ambulance to the emergency ward at St. Joseph's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m. Within an hour, his body was taken to the office of the Chief Medical Examiner at John Gaston Hospital, where Dr. Jerry Francisco performed an autopsy. King's closest aides contacted Robert Lewis Jr. to retrieve the body and prepare it for viewing. The autopsy was completed at around 11:00 p.m., and at 11:15 p.m. King's body arrived at the R.S. Lewis & Sons Funeral Home. The assassins' bullet, as well as the subsequent autopsy, had caused significant damage to King's neck and face, and both Robert Lewis Jr. and Clarence Lewis labored through the night embalming, grooming and preparing King's body, while listening to crackling recordings of King's speeches.

Ralph Abernathy Ralph David Abernathy Sr. (March 11, 1926 – April 17, 1990) was an American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He was ordained in the Baptist tradition in 1948. As a leader of the civil rights movement, he was a close friend and ...

commented "the body appeared unblemished. The morticians had done their job well." King's primary wake was held on April 5 in the home's chapel, which filled with thousands of mourners wishing to view the body. King's casket was then flown to Atlanta for two more funeral services, which the R.S. Lewis & Sons Funeral Home co-directed.

Change of ownership

Robert Lewis Jr. was director of the funeral home until his death in 2011. The home then operated under the leadership of Andre Jones and Richard Flowers, until it was purchased in 2012 by Tyrone Burroughs.

Historic plaque

On the R. S. Lewis Funeral Home's 100th anniversary in 2014, a historic plaque was placed there by the Shelby County Historical Commission.

References

External links

R.S. Lewis & Sons Funeral Home Martin Luther King lying in state at R.S. Lewis & Sons Funeral Home
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, R. S. 1914 establishments in Tennessee Buildings and structures in Memphis, Tennessee Companies based in Memphis, Tennessee American companies established in 1914 Death care companies of the United States Lewis, R. S.