Born in Nicholson, Georgia in 1924, the daughter of a rural farmer and a mail carrier, Lewis attended Georgia State College for Women (1943-1946) where she joined in the work for women’s rights, civil rights, and social justice. With a Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky, she has taught Appalachian Studies and lectured widely at regional colleges and universities, made films with Appalshop Film Studios, organized health clinics through Highlander Center, organized exchanges of American and Welsh coal miners and southern African and American women entrepreneurs. She is a teacher, theorist, activist, and public intellectual, with numerous awards and honorary doctoral degrees from Emory and Henry College and Wake Forest Seminary.
Helen Lewis has published hundreds of articles, monographs and reviews, and a number of important books in regional scholarship. Her most recent publication is her collection of writings and commentary, with contributions by notable scholars, which shaped the field of Appalachian Studies: Helen Matthews Lewis: Living Social Justice in Appalachia (Patricia Beaver and Judith Jennings, eds.) University Press of Kentucky, 2012.