T. T. Lewis (10 December 1905 – 1959) was a politician in

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

. Born Atholl Edwin Seymour Lewis, T. T. Lewis was one of a set of twins born in Drax Hall,

. Lewis was only afforded primary education, but valued education in his political career. He was elected to the Barbados Parliament in 1942, as an independent. He was re-elected in 1944 and 1946 on the

Congress Party The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement t ...

(CNG) ticket, and re-elected 1948–55 with the Barbados Labor Party (BLP). Lewis, a

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

man, was fired from his job in 1949 for joining the Barbados Labour Party, whose members were of

African descent Black is a racial classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid- to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin and often additional phenotypical ...

. Sir

Grantley Adams Sir Grantley Herbert Adams, CMG, QC (28 April 1898 – 28 November 1971) was a Barbadian politician. He served as the inaugural premier of Barbados from 1954 to 1958 and then became the first and only prime minister of the West Indies Feder ...

supported Lewis during the firing with a 1949 demonstration, called the "Lewis Demonstration." Lewis broke with Adams in the early 1950s, but remained a member of the BLP. In 1956 the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) was formed and Lewis joined the new party. During the 1956 election, Lewis ran as a member of the DLP, and was defeated. Among other efforts, Lewis is known for advocating free secondary education for all in Barbados. In 1959 Lewis died while in

St. Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

for his daughter's wedding. In 1962 secondary education was guaranteed to all Bajans, after the major 1961 win by the DLP in the Barbados parliament, and the assumption of the duties of Prime Minister by

Errol Barrow Errol Walton Barrow (21 January 1920 – 1 June 1987) was a Barbadian statesman and the first prime minister of Barbados. Born into a family of political and civic activists in the parish of Saint Lucy, he became a WWII aviator, combat vet ...

, DLP.

References

1905 births 1959 deaths Barbados Labour Party politicians Barbadian people of English descent Democratic Labour Party (Barbados) politicians Members of the House of Assembly of Barbados Congress Party (Barbados) politicians {{Barbados-politician-stub