Edward Lewis
Magazine publisher and entrepreneur Edward Lewis was born on May 15, 1940, in the Bronx, New York. His father was a night shift janitor at City College; his mother a factory worker and beautician. Lewis attended De Witt Clinton High School, where he excelled academically and was a star fullback on the football team. Upon graduating from high school in 1958, he earned a football scholarship to the University of New Mexico. Lewis received his B.A. degree in political science in 1964 and his M.A. degree in political science and international relations in 1966, both from the University of New Mexico. He later graduated from Harvard University’s Small Business Management Program.
Lewis worked first as an administrative analyst for the City Manager’s Office in Albuquerque, New Mexico from 1964 to 1965, and then as a financial analyst at First National City Bank in New York City from 1965 to 1969. In 1969, he co-founded Essence, a magazine specifically targeted to black women, and went on to serve as CEO and publisher of Essence Communications, Inc. for three decades. In the 1980s and 1990s, Lewis expanded Essence Communications to include a weekly television show, fashion line and mail order catalogue, as well as an annual awards show and Essence music festival. In 1992, Lewis acquired Income Opportunities from Davis Publishing; and, in 1995, he co-founded Latina magazine, a bilingual publication geared toward Hispanic women.
In 1997, Lewis became the first African American chairman of the Magazine Publishers of America. In October 2000, Lewis engineered a partnership with Time, Inc. and Essence Communications was sold to Time in 2005. He later joined the private equity firm Solera Capital as a senior adviser and published a memoir, The Man from Essence: Creating a Magazine for Black Women, in 2014.
Lewis has sat on the boards of TransAfrica, the Rheeland Foundation, New York City Partnership, the Central Park Conservancy, A&P, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Teachers College of Columbia University, Spelman College, Tuskegee University and the Harlem Village Academy; and served as chairman of Latina Media Ventures. He also served on President Barack Obama’s Board of Advisors for the Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Essence magazine ranked seventh on Advertising Age’s 2003 “A-List,” which was the first time that an African American targeted publication received the honor. Lewis’s personal awards include the Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Publishing from Ernst & Young; the President’s Award from One Hundred Black Men of America, Inc.; the Frederick Douglass Award from the New York Urban League; the United Negro College Fund’s Lifetime Achievement Award; the American Advertising Federation Diversity Achievement Award; the Henry Johnson Fisher Lifetime Achievement Award; and the Henry Luce Lifetime Achievement Award. He was inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame in 2014.
Edward Lewis was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on October 7, 2014.
A2014.224
Male
10/7/2014
Lewis
Married
DeWitt Clinton High School
University of New Mexico
Georgetown University Law Center
P.S. 35 Stephen Decatur School
P.S. 2 Morrisania School
Edward
New York
LEW20
Thanksgiving
New York
Bali, Indonesia
No Doubt About It.

New York
5/15/1940
New York
United States
Sweet Potato
Magazine publishing chief executive and entrepreneur Edward Lewis (1940 - ) cofounded Essence Communications, Inc., where he served as the CEO and publisher of Essence magazine.
Solera Capital
Essence Communications, Inc.
Blue
Tape: 1 Story: 1 - Slating of Edward Lewis' interview
Tape: 1 Story: 2 - Edward Lewis lists his favorites
Tape: 1 Story: 3 - Edward Lewis describes his father's personality
Tape: 1 Story: 4 - Edward Lewis describes his mother's family background
Tape: 1 Story: 5 - Edward Lewis talks about his experiences as an only child
Tape: 1 Story: 6 - Edward Lewis describes his mother's personality
Tape: 1 Story: 7 - Edward Lewis talks about his maternal family members
Tape: 1 Story: 8 - Edward Lewis describes his relationship with his mother
Tape: 1 Story: 9 - Edward Lewis talks about his maternal family's decision to move north
Tape: 1 Story: 10 - Edward Lewis remembers his maternal aunt, Matilene Spencer Berryman
Tape: 1 Story: 11 - Edward Lewis describes his earliest childhood memories
Tape: 2 Story: 1 - Edward Lewis describes the sights, sounds and smells of his childhood
Tape: 2 Story: 2 - Edward Lewis remembers his early aspirations
Tape: 2 Story: 3 - Edward Lewis describes the racial dynamics of the Bronx, New York
Tape: 2 Story: 4 - Edward Lewis remembers his education in New York City
Tape: 2 Story: 5 - Edward Lewis describes his upbringing
Tape: 2 Story: 6 - Edward Lewis talks about his mother's second marriage
Tape: 2 Story: 7 - Edward Lewis describes his relationship with his father
Tape: 2 Story: 8 - Edward Lewis remembers caring for his paternal grandmother
Tape: 2 Story: 9 - Edward Lewis remembers visiting his maternal family in Farmville, Virginia
Tape: 3 Story: 1 - Edward Lewis describes his neighborhood in the Bronx, New York
Tape: 3 Story: 2 - Edward Lewis remembers DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, New York
Tape: 3 Story: 3 - Edward Lewis recalls his recruitment to the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Tape: 3 Story: 4 - Edward Lewis talks about adjusting to the University of New Mexico
Tape: 3 Story: 5 - Edward Lewis remembers losing his college athletic scholarship
Tape: 3 Story: 6 - Edward Lewis recalls his coursework in Russian history
Tape: 3 Story: 7 - Edward Lewis describes his student activism
Tape: 3 Story: 8 - Edward Lewis remembers his admission to Georgetown Law School in Washington, D.C.
Tape: 3 Story: 9 - Edward Lewis talks about the careers of his football teammates at the University of New Mexico
Tape: 4 Story: 1 - Edward Lewis talks about President Richard Nixon
Tape: 4 Story: 2 - Edward Lewis recalls losing his scholarship to Georgetown Law School in Washington, D.C.
Tape: 4 Story: 3 - Edward Lewis remembers his experiences at First National City Bank
Tape: 4 Story: 4 - Edward Lewis remembers the formation of The Hollingsworth Group, pt. 1
Tape: 4 Story: 5 - Edward Lewis remembers the formation of The Hollingsworth Group, pt. 2
Tape: 4 Story: 6 - Edward Lewis describes the initial structure of The Hollingsworth Group
Tape: 4 Story: 7 - Edward Lewis remembers the first issue of Essence magazine
Tape: 5 Story: 1 - Edward Lewis talks about the founding of Essence magazine
Tape: 5 Story: 2 - Edward Lewis describes the early advertising in Essence magazine
Tape: 5 Story: 3 - Edward Lewis recalls the overhead costs at Essence Communications, Inc.
Tape: 5 Story: 4 - Edward Lewis remembers his mentors in the publishing industry
Tape: 5 Story: 5 - Edward Lewis talks about the success of Essence magazine
Tape: 5 Story: 6 - Edward Lewis talks about the early editors in chief of Essence magazine
Tape: 5 Story: 7 - Edward Lewis remembers his former business partners' lawsuit
Tape: 5 Story: 8 - Edward Lewis describes Essence's relationship with Playboy Enterprises, Inc.
Tape: 5 Story: 9 - Edward Lewis remembers Marcia Ann Gillespie
Tape: 6 Story: 1 - Edward Lewis recalls promoting Susan Taylor as the editor in chief of Essence magazine
Tape: 6 Story: 2 - Edward Lewis talks about the magazine industry
Tape: 6 Story: 3 - Edward Lewis describes the growth of Essence Communications, Inc.
Tape: 6 Story: 4 - Edward Lewis remembers creating the Essence Music Festival
Tape: 6 Story: 5 - Edward Lewis talks about the success of the Essence Music Festival
Tape: 6 Story: 6 - Edward Lewis talks about Black Enterprise magazine
Tape: 6 Story: 7 - Edward Lewis describes the advertising challenges at Essence Communications, Inc.
Tape: 6 Story: 8 - Edward Lewis remembers his business relationship with John H. Johnson
Tape: 6 Story: 9 - Edward Lewis talks about Camille Cosby's board membership at Essence Communications, Inc.
Tape: 7 Story: 1 - Edward Lewis describes the negotiations between Essence Communications, Inc. and Time Inc.
Tape: 7 Story: 2 - Edward Lewis describes his departure from Essence Communications, Inc., pt. 1
Tape: 7 Story: 3 - Edward Lewis talks about the future of Essence magazine
Tape: 7 Story: 4 - Edward Lewis describes his departure from Essence Communications, Inc., pt. 2
Tape: 7 Story: 5 - Edward Lewis talks about the title of his book, 'The Man from Essence'
Tape: 7 Story: 6 - Edward Lewis talks about his plans for the future
Tape: 7 Story: 7 - Edward Lewis describes his hopes and concerns for the African American community
Tape: 7 Story: 8 - Edward Lewis reflects upon his legacy
Tape: 7 Story: 9 - Edward Lewis describes how he would like to be remembered
Tape: 7 Story: 10 - Edward Lewis reflects upon his life
Tape: 7 Story: 11 - Edward Lewis talks about his second marriage
Tape: 7 Story: 12 - Edward Lewis describes his aspiration to become a blues singer
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