How to Use this Park
Chester I. Lewis Reflection ParkThis park is the first publicly funded art project in downtown Wichita depicting an African American.In a letter to the editor of The Wichita Beacon on February 22, 1957, Chester I. Lewis, Jr. wrote:“Here in Wichita Negroes are denied the right to find employmentsuitable for their abilities, to own homes in desired locations, and to enter many places of amusement and public accommodation. This is our land... We helped to build it. We have defended it from Boston Common to Iwo Jima. We have made it a better land through our songs, our laughter, our expansion and clarification of its Constitution and its Bill of Rights, through our talents and skills, all the way from Benjamin Banneker, who helped lay out the city of Washington, D.C., to Ralph Bunche, who made the work of peace a reality in 1949. We are Americans, and in the American way, with American weapons and with American determination to be free, we intend to slug it out, to fight right here on this home front if it takes forty or more years until victory is ours.”Chester I. Lewis, Jr. (1928-1990), a Hutchinson, Kansas native, became a Wichita-based attorney and leader in the modern Civil Rights Movement. He won hundreds of court cases that provided opportunities for African Americans to gain more access to housing, jobs, swimming pools, restaurants, and schools in Wichita.By his early 20s, he had served in the U.S. Army, earned a law degree from the University of Kansas, and won his first Civil Rights case.As President of the Wichita Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), he supported the first successful youth-led sit-in in the United States. Mr. Lewis worked on a city-wide campaign to end racial discrimination in renting and purchasing homes. His formal complaint regarding the ongoing separation by race of children in Wichita Public Schools led to the first federal investigation of school segregation in the Midwest. He represented Wichitans who lost family and homes in the 1965 Piatt Street plane crash.Mr. Lewis led a national effort to expand the focus of the national NAACP beyond civil rights to include economic rights.Mr. Lewis challenged Wichita’s largest employers to hire, train, and promote people of color. In his final court case, he won millions of dollars for train porters who had been underpaid from the 1920s-1970s.The artwork for the Chester I. Lewis Reflection Park is two distinct approaches that co-exist in the same space, BEYOND by Matthew Mazzotta and WINDOWS, WALLS, AND WINGS by Ellamonique Baccus.Matthew MazzottaAmerican, born 1977BEYOND, 2022Galvanized steel, paintCity of Wichita Public Art CollectionBEYOND is a site-specific artwork for Chester I. Lewis Reflection Park. It is composed of a series of vertical structures called Echos that are distributed across the park and progressively shift from the shape of a house into a park open for all. The concept of a house opening its roof and walls as it expands across the park symbolizes inclusion. It references the housing policy that Mr. Lewis redefined in his lifetime and the continued impact of his work in breaking the barriers of segregation and oppression in all areas of daily life.The Echos sequentially opening to the sky signals another concept: amplification. Mr. Lewis was a prominent orator on both the local and national levels, and he fought to overcome many injustices. The design of the Echos radiating outward from the central house and stage area—makes his words visible as they are continually broadcast to the larger world.Ellamonique BaccusAfrican American, born 1979WINDOWS, WALLS, AND WINGS, 2023Glass, aluminum, steel, ceramic tileCity of Wichita Public Art CollectionWINDOWS AND WALLS is composed of oil paintings by Ellamonique translated to monolithic glass. The work is meant to be an opportunity to understand and connect on a human level to the tests and triumphs of Chester I. Lewis as his life and work transformed the African American experience in Wichita. WALLS references the barriers yet to be overcome.The WINGS atop Mazzotta’s house structure and the benches represent the Principles of Ma’at, which are truth, justice and harmony. This is the foundation upon which the legal system is built and the values upheld by Attorney Chester I. Lewis. The mosaic beneath the house structure depicts the REDLINING MAP of WICHITA, a color-coded map that was used to restrict homeownership in 63% of Wichita.The works are accompanied with poetry by Ellamonique Baccus and a virtual audio tour written and narrated by Carla Eckels and Dr. Gretchen Eick.A special thank you to Collins Bus and the University of Kansas Kenneth Spencer Research Library.As you visit each art installation, use a phone or smart device to access a guided audio tour on the life of Chester I. Lewis. Notice Chester I. Lewis’ words in the description of each panel. Read and ponder his words. How do they connect with your life and the lives of people around you today?For more information, visit the Wichita Public Library's page on Chester I. Lewis.
De Facto Segregation and Bussing
De Facto Segregation and BussingChester Lewis asks us, “Do you want to be free?” It is a long held belief in the African American community that education is a way out of the bondage of poverty and into the freedom to choose one’s own future. As the student boards the bus to a new school, each step is the Adinkra symbol that means “the pursuit of knowledge.” The mother stretches her hand toward her child, sending a prayer of safety and protection, as they pursue knowledge in a place their family cannot live.- Ellamonique Baccus“The motivation of Black parents to have their children attend ‘integrated’ schools lies in the proven fact that, if a black child is attending school with white children, the black child can be assured to receiving maximum educational benefits, because the School Board isn't going to stunt or short-change white children.” - Chester I Lewis, Jr.Kansas law allowed cities in the state to require Black children, ages kindergarten through 8th grade, to attend separate schools based on the color of their skin. Most cities in Kansas, including Wichita, did this. The practice was called segregation. In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregation in public schools was against the law in the Brown v. Topeka Board of Education court case. However, it took nearly twenty years for the Wichita school board to integrate its schools. More than 90+% of Black families lived in one area, Northeast Wichita, and the school board kept redrawing school attendance boundaries to prevent children from Northeast from attending schools in other neighborhoods. Chester Lewis, the NAACP, Black organizations, and Black parents often petitioned the school board to end separate schools. In response to a letter from Lewis, USD259 reassigned a small number of Wichita’s Black teachers to predominantly white schools, but that was all.In January 1966, Lewis flew to Washington, D.C. and filed a complaint with the federal government. He included 300 pages of documentation showing that Wichita still maintained a school system that in fact assigned children to schools according to their race. The U.S. government investigated Wichita Public Schools from 1967-71. It was the first investigation of school segregation in the Midwest. When the U.S. government said it would withhold $5 million of federal aid to Wichita, the school board agreed to bus Black children to white schools and a small proportion of white children into Northeast schools. Chester Lewis opposed this decision, saying it was unfair to Black families.An agreement was accepted by the school board for the 1971-72 school year and remained in place until 2008.For more information, visit the Wichita Public Library's page on Chester I. Lewis.Follow this link for more resources on segregation in bussing.
Desegregation of Swimming Pools
Desegregation of Swimming PoolsSiamese crocodilesboth want the taste of food.When I’m fedyou’re fed.Today we share the pool.No “Whites Only” sign.But will hate change its mind?Leaping from the diving boardis the closest thing to flyin’!- Ellamonique Baccus“The Black Man in America must be accepted fully by the society; he must be granted his full constitutional rights and his just share of power and wealth in America.” - Chester I. Lewis, Jr.When the U.S. government built forty swimming pools in towns across Kansas during the 1930s, Black people were denied access to them. Black children had to learn to swim in rivers, and drownings were common. In Hutchinson, KS, Chester I. Lewis, Sr., editor of the Black newspaper The Hutchinson Blade, ran a photograph of the only pool in Hutchinson available to Black people, a pool filled with algae and lily pads with no room for swimmers. His son Chester I. Lewis, Jr., a 23-year-old lawyer new to Wichita, brought the first civil rights suit against the City of Wichita (joined by John E. Pyles). They sued over the denial of access to Wichita’s pools in 1953 and won. Chester Lewis, Jr. obtained injunctions against the cities of Parsons and Herrington for preventing Black families from using city pools. As a result, in 1955, The Hutchinson News-Herald reported that “The Kansas Supreme Court ruled …[that] the city of Parsons has no right to refuse the privileges of its municipal swimming pool to a . . . Negro.” The state court ruling set the precedent that municipal swimming pools across Kansas must admit Black people. Lewis’s action is why the court ruled that people could not be prevented from swimming in city pools across Kansas because of the color of their skin.Despite this Kansas Supreme Court ruling, hostile white people found ways around the ruling. Pools in Lawrence, KS, remained closed to Black people until 1969. And, nationally, in 1971, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed Jackson, MS, to close its public pools rather than integrate them [Palmer v. Thompson, 403 U.S. 217].Banning Black people from public pools may explain why a high proportion of African Americans did not learn to swim and why hurricanes and floods caused so many to drown. In 1969, Black architect Charles McAfee, a close friend of Chester Lewis, designed the first Kansas pool accessible to African Americans that was properly sized for competitive swimming. In 2021, the award-winning pool was renamed for McAfee. For more information, visit the Wichita Public Library's page on Chester I. Lewis.Follow this link for more resources on segregation in swimming pools.
The Fair Housing March
The Fair Housing MarchThe Fair Housing March of 1963 was the largest public demonstration in Wichita up to that time. Wichitans of diverse cultures and religions joined together to protest housing discrimination based on race, national origin, or religion. The battle continues. - Ellamonique Baccus“We must set forth a new declaration of independence…young and old, black and white, poor and not so poor, are possessed of marvelous energies and constructive ideas, that we all have morale and a character we have not dared to ponder—[so] that America can once more make ourselves, and much of the world, shiver with delight.” - Chester I. Lewis, Jr.In 1950, Wichita was the 8th most segregated city in the United States. In 1963, Chester and his wife Vashti sought to buy a home, wanting their children to attend Brooks Junior High School. Vashti and her son Steven went on a house tour, accompanied by a white couple who were their friends. They found a house for sale just north of Wichita State University on Roosevelt Street. The neighborhood was all white. Racially restrictive covenants denied any Black person the right to buy property there, even though the U.S. Supreme Court ruled these covenants violated the 14th Amendment in 1948. The realtor assumed Vashti was the maid of the white couple who bought the house and deeded it to the Lewises.The head of the 60+ member neighborhood association told the Wichita Eagle they were prepared to take legal action to force the Lewis family to leave. Explosives were set off in their mailbox. A rock was thrown through a window. Their cat was poisoned. A cross was burned on their front lawn. Volunteers from Temple Emanu-El and the Unitarian Church formed teams to protect the Lewises. Many congregations called for a fair housing ordinance that would guarantee that anyone could buy or rent housing regardless of their race, color, national origin, or religion. A coalition led by Vashti Lewis and Unitarian Church pastor H. Paul Osborn presented a petition to the city signed by 1,600 people, including Roman Catholic Bishop Mark Carroll, leading Jewish businessmen, and the school superintendent. They organized the largest demonstration in Wichita’s history up to that time on October 27, 1963. Neither the city nor the state passed effective fair housing legislation, although the federal government did enact the Fair Housing Act of 1968.Redlining still exists. So do restrictive covenants. For more information, visit the Wichita Public Library's page on Chester I. Lewis.
Redlining Map of Wichita, 1937
Redlining Map of Wichita, 1937The artwork recreates the red-lined map of Wichita in 1937 used to enforce discriminatory access to home ownership for all ethnic groups except white people who were born in Kansas. Green are “best” neighborhoods; blue is “still desirable”; yellow is “declining”; and red is “hazardous.” Each rectangle represents a city block.Different storiesSame themeDifferent placesSame schemeKansas-born whites in the greenCrushing homeowner dreamsWhite advantage you can’t seeHelping you and hurting meNew builds vs. ghetto streetsThey created these- Ellamonique Baccus"In America caste is defined by color, class, by economic status. A man's color, if it is Black, is most frequently used as a means of enforcing economic limitations. It is used as a visible tool of oppression."- Chester I. Lewis, Jr. Redlining is the practice of discriminating against certain neighborhoods and the people who live there. Banks, real estate agents and federal agencies worked together to rate neighborhoods using color-coded maps. They refused loans and insurance to people living in neighborhoods marked in red without regard to an individual’s qualifications and creditworthiness. In 1937, Wichita was the third most redlined city in the U.S. at 64%.Redlining began during the Great Depression, when two U.S. government agencies — the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) and the Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) — began offering housing loans to buy homes. FHA offered loans for new housing in the suburbs, which were for white people only. HOLC also offered loans for buying older homes, but denied these loans to people in immigrant or predominantly African American neighborhoods. People were forced to rent housing in racially segregated neighborhoods where landlords could charge them higher rates because they had so few choices of where to live.Even after the Supreme Court ruled in 1948 that courts could not enforce racially restrictive housing practices, these practices continued. Home ownership is the major way Americans build wealth, but the impact of this discriminatory practice preventing home ownership for Black and low-income people is still being felt today.For more information, visit the Wichita Public Library's page on Chester I. Lewis.Follow this link for more resources on redlining.
Wings of Ma'at and the Scales of Justice
Wings of Ma’at and the Scales of JusticeSome consider the modern legal system to have its origins in the Ancient Egyptian principles of Ma’at which are Order, Righteousness, Justice, Balance, Harmony, and Truth. As an attorney, Chester I. Lewis, Jr. embodied these principles to work rightly and lead a life of Integrity.The Karmic scales of Ma’at weigh the human heart as a vessel containing thoughts, feelings, desires, and unconscious memories against a feather of truth and purity. At the base of the scales, the lotus flower represents an end to things and a new beginning each day.Designed by Philip and Ellamonique Baccus with the House of Sharp and Armando Minjarez.For more information, visit the Wichita Public Library's page on Chester I. Lewis.
Lewis Family Legacy
Lewis Family Legacy My walls are covered with the symbol of the “sword of war.”Heroism. Valor. Courage.My people are who I am fighting forMy side is the side of justiceThe other side tried to hush thisWhere do you stand?Lewis Legacy Live Forever- Ellamonique BaccusChester Lewis’s father used to say, “We are all born equal, and when we die everyone gets dirt thrown in their face. The only thing that is important is what you do for people. Don’t let the wind catch you, or material things cloud your identity and your vision. Just go out and help others.”(Source: Dr. Mary Ellen Lewis London, Chester Lewis, Jr.’s sister)Chester I. Lewis, Jr. championed civil rights, winning hundreds of court cases that provided opportunities for African Americans to gain more access to housing, jobs, pools, restaurants, and schools in Wichita. Born August 8, 1929, he grew up in Hutchinson, KS with his parents, two brothers, and sister. Hutchinson was the only one of the 12 largest cities in the state that did not segregate school children. Chester Lewis, Sr. delivered the mail and published a newspaper, The Hutchinson Blade, on which the whole family worked.Both parents were college graduates, his father from Langston University in Oklahoma and his mother with two B.A.s (the University of Kansas and Colorado State Teachers College). Hutchinson schools would not hire her, despite her five years teaching experience. Chester’s parents challenged their children to excel. Mealtimes included spelling bees, quizzes, and discussions. Chester I. Lewis, Jr. served with the U.S. Army of Occupation in Japan after high school and was one of 40 black students out of 10,000 at the University of Kansas, graduating in 1951. He entered K.U. Law School, graduating third in his class in 1953. He moved to Wichita to set up his law practice at 23 with his wife Jackie Rickman (Lewis/Gilbert) who also attended K.U. Later that year Jackie gave birth to their first child at Wesley Hospital. Baby Michelle was placed in the old bassinets at the back of the nursery, standard practice with Black babies, the nurse told Chester. He immediately demanded to speak to the hospital administrator, threatened to sue Wesley for $250,000, and got the policy changed. Chester and Jackie volunteered with the local NAACP. Daughter Brenda Kay Lewis (Davis) was born September 2, 1955. Chester worked as Assistant Sedgwick County Attorney 1954-56 and from 1957-1968 was president of the Wichita branch of the NAACP. He and Jackie divorced in 1961. Chester married Vashti Crutcher, adding her son Steven Hurley to their family. He became a national vice-president of the NAACP. After investigating the disappearance of three civil rights workers in impoverished Mississippi in 1964, Lewis changed. He led a five-year national campaign to get the NAACP to address the economic issues that oppressed Black people. He represented Wichitans who lost family and homes in the 1965 Piatt Street plane crash.Chester also organized Black professionals to finance two supermarkets called Brothers in Northeast Wichita to give people access to grocery stores.In his final court case he won $16.5 million from the Santa Fe Railroad for Black porters. [See Employment Panel] Lewis died in 1990, age 61. For more information, visit the Wichita Public Library's page on Chester I. Lewis.Follow this link for more resources on the Lewis Family Legacy.
Economic Justice for African Americans
Economic Justice for African Americansexcellence craftsmanship, attention to detailChester Lewis was a train porter in his youth and became a lawyer who won millions of dollars for Pullman porters. Depicted in the fuselage above is Margaret Daniels, a maid at Cessna who dreamed of building airplanes. Lewis fought for her cause.- Ellamonique Baccus“It must be realized that despite arguments that Rome wasn’t built in a day or that racial problems can’t be cured overnight, 100 years is an awful lot of darkness, and Negroes are sick of evasions, weary of excuses, tired of technicalities, fed up with promises, and want action, freedom, and equality now.”- Chester I. Lewis, Jr.Chester Lewis challenged employment discrimination of Wichita’s largest employers in aircraft, the railroad, telecommunications, and the State and City governments, citing violations of Kansas and Federal law. And he won. Consistently.In 1961, Lewis filed a federal complaint that ended the practice of the Kansas State Employment Service accepting racial designations like “whites only need apply.” In 1966, Chester Lewis sent a formal complaint to the U.S Equal Opportunity Commission on behalf of Margaret Daniels, one of only three Black females employed by Cessna. Ms. Daniels requested transfer from being a maid to the sheet metal training class. Her request was denied. Her supervisor told her if she didn’t drop her grievance, she’d remain a maid all of her life. Daniels asked her union to investigate, but they refused. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad employed Pullman Porters, who were part of the first all-Black union, The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters [in 1925]. They expanded the Black middle class. They were on call 24/7 with no overtime pay yet delivered their service with excellence. They had a pivotal role in launching the largest migration in U.S. history – the Great Migration. Black people left the Jim Crow South, motivated by stories in Black newspapers that porters distributed that told of opportunities for a better life in northern and western cities. In 1984, Chester Lewis sued the Santa Fe Railroad and won $8.5 million for Black porters, who had been underpaid from the 1920s-1970s. An additional $16.5 million was awarded from a second lawsuit. Lewis flew people to Washington, DC in his private plane to lobby for passage of a national law that became the 1964 Civil Rights Act. That law made discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, or gender in employment, education, and public accommodations a federal crime.For more information, visit the Wichita Public Library's page on Chester I. Lewis.
