1890, Lyon was appointed by the RNC as a member of the advisory board. 1901–1902: Foundation of Maryland school for colored youths and Morgan College In 1901, Lyon was the pastor of the John Wesley Methodist Episcopal Church in Baltimore, Maryland. That same year he worked as the professor of church history at Morgan College. He was among the founders of the Maryland Industrial and Agricultural Institute for Colored Youths, a school for African-American youth in North Laurel, Maryland. He later served as the first president of the school. 1903–1910: Politics and U.S. Ambassador to Liberia The civil rights leader Booker T. Washington recommended Lyon to President Theodore Roosevelt, who appointed him U.S. Minister and Consul General to Liberia in 1903. He served in this capacity until 1910. Following his diplomatic service, he returned to Baltimore to become the minister of Ames Methodist Episcopal Church. 1911–death Lyon was "member committee" for the Negro Historical and Industrial Association which "invited President Woodrow Wilson to deliver address on opening day of 50th anniversary exposition and celebration of emancipation at Fort Lee, Virginia." Lyons was one of ten people to represent the intellectual contributions of African Americans in an international lecture course hosted by the Maryland State Department of Education in Baltimore. In 1915, his office was located at 141 West Hill Street, Baltimore, Maryland. Personal life Lyon was first married to singer Abbie J. Wright in 1883. Together they had three children, Maud Amelia, Annie Belle, and Ernest Harrison Monroe. In 1903, Lyon married Clara Florida Bacchus (1878-?) of Wilmington, Delaware. He was married for a third time on March 28, 1912, to Marie Wright of Baltimore. In 1915, Lyon resided in Laurel, Maryland. He died of lobar pneumonia on July 17, 1938, at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Works consulted William Davis Godman, A. H. Dexter Godman, Ines A. Godman. 1893. Gilbert Academy and Agricultural College, Winsted, Louisiana: Sketches and Incidents. William Edward Burghardt Du Bois. 1917. The Crisis, Volumes 15–18 (p. 29). Sir Harry Hamilton Johnston. 1910. The Negro in the New World. John William Leonard, Albert Nelson Marquis (eds). Who's Who in America, Volume 4. The Journal of Negro History. The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Volume 14. 1910. Accomplished: African American Women in Victorian America, 2014, BIG BYTE BOOKS 1900 United States Federal Census References Footnotes External links U.S. Ambassador to Liberia: Ernest Lyon 1860 births 1930 deaths American