Family members, friends and associates of the late Reginald Lewis will gather in Baltimore this weekend to celebrate the life of the first black owner of a Fortune 500 company.
Lewis, a Baltimore native, would have turned 65 on Friday. An illness cut his life short in 1993 at the age of 50.
At the time of his death, Lewis was chairman and CEO of TLC Beatrice International Holdings, a $2 billion food, beverage and grocery store conglomerate that was the nation?s largest black-owned business.
“He was the Jackie Robinson of high finance,” Loida Nicolas Lewis, Lewis? widow, told The Examiner on Wednesday. “That legacy has inspired many young African-Americans to go into finance.”
Loida Nicolas Lewis said she wanted to keep her husband?s memory alive and hoped younger generations would follow his path.
“For him, it was all about overcoming self-doubt, the racism and the negativity,” she said. “Life is what you make it, and he never let anything stophim.”
Lewis was also very philanthropic, establishing The Reginald F. Lewis Foundation and donating money to educational institutions. A Harvard Law School graduate, Lewis donated $3 million to the school, which later renamed a building at the school the Reginald F. Lewis International Law Center.
Baltimore?s Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture has several events planned to honor and remember Lewis and his accomplishments.
On Thursday and Friday, Lewis? oldest daughter, Leslie Lewis Sword, will perform a one-woman play, “Miracle in Rwanda,” at the museum. On Friday night, Robert Johnson, founder of BET and The RLJ Cos., will be the featured speaker at a party at the museum.
On Saturday, former executives of TLC Beatrice International Holdings will gather and share their stories and memories about Lewis. And on Sunday, the museum will hold its annual gala, which will include a performance by Little Richard.
Loida Nicolas Lewis said the weekend, while a time to celebrate, would be an emotional few days.
“Fifteen years later, I?d like people to remember and know about him again,” she said. “When you love someone, you never forget them.”
If you go
The Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture
830 E. Pratt St., Baltimore
443-263-1800
www.africanamericanculture.org
