With a Nearly 100-Year Legacy, St. Louis-Area Family Honored at Lincoln University’s 2022 Founders’ Day Celebration

By:  Jana Woods 

JEFFERSON CITY, MO — The Lewis family was recently recognized at Lincoln University of Missouri’s 2022 Founders’ Day on Feb. 10 for their ties to the Jefferson City, Missouri-based university that date back nearly a century — from Pearley Poindexter in 1923 to his great-granddaughter Ja’Nae Wright’s graduation in 2020.

“We bleed blue,” says Wright’s mother Joanna Lewis, who is the vice president of the Greater St. Louis Lincoln University Alumni Association chapter. She graduated from Lincoln in 1995 with a degree in computer information systems and today works as a senior analyst for American Water in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Lewis’s sister, Dr. Pamela Trotter, graduated from Lincoln in 1992 with a psychology degree and today is a professor at Montgomery College in Rockville, Maryland. Wright graduated with a degree in social work and is now a compliance inspector with the State of Missouri.

Lewis is passionate about Lincoln and about taking care of its students through scholarship fundraising. Known for watching out for students who may not have a strong family support network or who may be struggling financially, Lewis often sends care packages to those in need.

“I want to make sure students can focus on school,” she says. “If I can take off one concern that a student has, then I’ll do that.”

For Lewis, Lincoln University has always meant family. “Once we graduate, the work at Lincoln shouldn’t stop,” Lewis says. “Those who founded Lincoln University made sure we had an education. We must do the same for others. I recommitted myself to Lincoln because it’s meant more than an education to me. The life skills we gained, our experiences, friendships, the Lincoln family support — we don’t hear friends who went to other schools talk about this. Lincoln changed my life, and I see it now changing my daughter’s life.”