a successful career in entertainment. Many attribute the notoriety of Lewis's school to the political culture of the time. Boston experienced a desegregation crisis in the mid 1970s after court-ordered desegregation of schools. Due to financial problems, enrollment in the school begin to dwindle. After years of battling financial crisis, and owing back taxes the school's site was foreclosed on in 1997. National Center of Afro-American Artists (NCAAA) Lewis founded the National Center of Afro-American Artists which served as an umbrella organization for the school, local arts groups, and a museum. The site which overlooked Franklin Park, was previously the Temple Mishkan Tefila and adjoining school. It was turned over to Lewis' organized by Jewish Philanthropists as part of the process of Jews leaving the city of Boston. Before acquiring this site, the school had passed through multiple locations which caused financial problems. By the 1980s, the center was in debt up to $720,000. The annual production of Langston Hughes’ Black Nativity became a staple of the organization and was directed every year by Lewis herself. Technical Theatre Program Lewis developed the Technical Theatre Program at the Massachusetts Correctional Institute. The 750 inmates at the Norfolk Prison who were enrolled in the program put on performances and learned skills such as musical composition. In 1972 the book “Who Took the Weight? Black Voices from Norfolk Prison,” describing their experiences, and including work by ten writer/artist inmates, was published with a foreword by Lewis. Later life Awards and affiliations Lewis was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1977. She was involved in promoting African American culture through art forms. She served as a board member for various organizations, including the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Congressional Black Caucus, Metropolitan Cultural Alliance, and NAACP Lewis also received the Commonwealth Award, Massachusetts’ highest award in the arts, and myriad other honors including nearly thirty honorary doctorates from various universities. In October 2003, the National Visionary Leadership Project in ceremonies at Washington's J. F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, named Miss Lewis, along with Ray Charles and John Hope Franklin, as a "Visionary Elder." She is commemorated on the Boston Women's Heritage Trail. In 1973, Lewis received a $350,000 grant from the Rockefeller foundation to update the school and pay the salaries of the school's staff. In 1981, Lewis was awarded the genius grant by the