Dates

• Existence: 1904 - 1988

Biography

Thelma B. Lewis was born May 23, 1904 in Hamilton's Fort, Utah. She graduated from the University of Utah. Lewis came to Iowa City in 1931, where her husband Donald Lewis was a professor of psychology at the University of Iowa (then the State University of Iowa). During World War II, Lewis lived in Washington, D.C., and worked as an aide in the State Department for the Division of German-Austrian Economic Affairs. In 1947, she accompanied Secretary of State George C. Marshall on his mission to Moscow, where she served as an information specialist during the drafting of the Marshall Plan.

Afterwards, Lewis returned to Iowa City where she was active in local politics during the 1950s and 1960s. She was a leader in the campaign to develop a council-manager plan for city government. From 1958 to 1963 she served on the City Council. She was mayor for one year in 1961. Lewis died on October 1, 1988 in Ontario, California.

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