The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History is marking the significant impact of UniWorld Group advertising founder Byron Lewis on the ad industry and American culture with the addition of materials from his pioneering career to the museum’s national collection. 

A donation ceremony is set for Oct. 5 in New York and a showcase presentation titled, “Byron Lewis: Ad King Extraordinaire,” will debut Oct. 17 as part of the museum’s “American Enterprise” exhibition in the Mars Hall of American Business. 
 
Lewis founded UniWorld in 1969 to champion multicultural advertising and promote the interests of Black and Latina/o consumers.  

Under his direction the agency created muti-media advertisements for clients such as Mars Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, AT&T, Stax Records, Avon, Ford Motor, Quaker Oats Company, Burger King, the U.S. Marines and more. 

For his efforts Lewis, now 91, became known as the “Godfather of Multicultural Marketing” and was referred to as the “Original King of Black Media” by the New York Times. 

The donation includes objects that reflect the history of UniWorld and related businesses, as well as those related to Lewis’ personal story, including a Boy Scouts award, high school yearbooks and his Omega Psi Phi fraternity paddle.  

Items from Lewis’ advertising career include the three swords gifted to him for his historic Mars Inc. “3 Musketeers” chocolate bar campaign, agency achievements, awards, campaigns and photographs with key clients as well as archives, publications, scripts and artwork. 

Pictured in numerous magazine profiles, his office displayed African artifacts and the artwork of noted African American artists, a number of which are part of the donated collection. 

Born in Newark, NJ, Lewis grew up in Queens, New York. He graduated from Long Island University with a journalism degree and was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army in 1955.  

Despite his credentials, Lewis could not find a media position and spent years working odd jobs, from janitor to office worker. In Harlem, he found opportunities, including selling advertising for Black-owned publications. He co-founded The Urbanite, a Harlem magazine staffed by esteemed writers such as James Baldwin and Langston Hughes. Lewis also created the nation’s first Black radio soap opera, Sounds of the City. 

Describing his life and work as dedicated “to changing the image of Black people in American life,” Lewis supported and promoted African American artists, filmmakers, activists and politicians.  

His work included promotional campaigns for the 1971 film Shaft; co-directing the National Black Political Convention in 1972; becoming the owner and producer of “America’s Black Forum,” the nation’s first syndicated Black TV news show; and promotions for African American cultural centers and museums such as the Apollo Theater, the Schomburg Research Center, the African Burial Ground project and Black arts festivals and HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities).  

His international work was in the Caribbean and Africa. Lewis designed and donated the Nelson Mandela Presidential Medallion, a gold coin minted in South Africa in 1994. In 2013, Lewis was inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame by the American Advertising Federation.