Karen G. J. Lewis

Karen G. J. Lewis (1953-2021) was a teacher and labor union leader who served as the president of the Chicago Teachers Union from 2010-2014. Born and raised on Chicago’s South Side, she was the only African American woman in her graduating class at Dartmouth College. She spent time in Oklahoma and Barbados before returning home and becoming a teacher. Lewis was a high school chemistry teacher for twenty-two years. A labor leader, an organizer, a brilliant strategist, an advocate for children and public education, a symbol of the progressive left, a lover of opera, movies, and tennis, Lewis passed away in 2021.