Sadie Lewis Adams

Lived:February 24, 1872—July 30, 1945 (aged 73)

Sadie Lewis Adams was a teacher, suffragist and clubwoman.

Adams was born on February 24, 1872, in Staunton, Virginia. She earned a teaching certificate from Hartshorn Memorial College in Richmond, and taught in the Staunton Public School system until her marriage in 1892.

In 1910, Adams and her husband moved to Chicago, Illinois. She became active in volunteer activities and women's clubs, including the Alpha Suffrage Club, the first African American suffrage organization in Chicago. After Illinois granted women the right to vote in local elections in 1914, Adams was one of the first women to serve on the election board. She attended two conferences of the Illinois Equal Suffrage League as the Alpha Suffrage Club's delegate and in 1916, she attended the National Equal Rights League Conference in Washington, D.C. In 1920, she attended the first conference of the national League of Women Voters.

From 1921-1934, Adams served as president of the Chicago and Northern District Association of Colored Women's Clubs. She was a co-founder of the Douglas League of Women Voters and served as a delegate to the Pan-American Conference of Women in 1922. In 1923, Adams represented the Illinois Federation of Colored Women's Clubs at a conference at the request of the Illinois League of Women Voters. In 1924, she chaired the committee that organized the National Association of Colored Women's convention in Chicago.

Adams died on July 30, 1945.