Uncrowned Community Builders

Ora Louisa Lewis was born January 8, 1890, in Albia, Iowa to Sallie and Benjamin Lewis. She came to Buffalo in 1914 with her husband, James T. Anderson, whose family had lived in Buffalo since 1832.

A member of Bethel AME Church for half a century, Mrs. Anderson received a citation for her work as chairman of the church's missionary society. She served as Area Missionary Secretary.

Mrs. Anderson was a great writer and wrote a column for the Buffalo NAACP that appeared in the Buffalo Criterion for over 10 years. She also wrote a column for her church for the same newspaper.

Mrs. Anderson was an active clubwoman who was elected regional president of the Empire State Federation of Women's Clubs, an affiliate of the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs, Inc. in 1938. She was also a former secretary of this organization. In 1966, she was awarded a state citation for her service to the Federation. She was a founder and former president of the Federation's Lit-Mus Club, which was organized in 1922 to promote black literature, culture and music in Buffalo. The club founded "Negro History Week" in Buffalo in 1928. She was also a member of the Phyllis Wheatley Club of Colored Women. Mrs. Anderson was active in the Women's Guild of the Urban League.

Mr. and Mrs. Anderson were the parents of five children, James E., Arthur S., David, Ora, and Mildred Fenty and fifteen grandchildren. Mrs. Anderson's daughter, Ora L. Anderson Curry and Amelia Anderson, her sister-in-law, are also Uncrowned Queens. Mrs. Anderson died on September 23, 1970, at the age of 80.

She is buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, NY.