Agency54: The Black-Owned PR Firm That Opened in Birmingham in 1954 — and Never Stopped

In 1954, the same year the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that segregated schools were unconstitutional, Dr. Jesse J. Lewis Sr. founded a public relations firm in Birmingham, Alabama. The city was the heart of American apartheid. Dr. Lewis opened for business anyway.

He named it Agency 54 — the year it was born, a year that changed the country, a year when the idea that Black voices deserved to be heard in the public square was still being fought over in courtrooms and on the streets outside his window.

Seventy years later, Agency54 is still here. It is one of the oldest Black-owned public relations firms in America, and arguably the oldest in Alabama — a distinction earned not by surviving but by evolving, decade after decade, through every shift in the communications landscape, every political realignment, and every technological revolution the industry has faced.

Dr. Lewis built the firm on a conviction that was radical in 1954 and remains relevant today: that Black audiences deserve communication that reflects their culture, speaks their language, and is crafted by people who understand both. He was the first Black person ever hired to represent Coca-Cola. His agency built relationships with the State of Alabama, Alabama Power Company, Regions Financial Corporation, Birmingham Water Works, and Birmingham-Jefferson County Convention Complex — corporate and civic clients that came to Agency54 because no one else could reach the audiences they needed to reach the way Agency54 could. He was later inducted into the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame.

That legacy has been carried forward by Dorian G. Kendrick, who joined The Lewis Group as Senior Vice President and, in her role, guided the organization through a cultural transformation — renaming the firm Agency54, expanding its digital capabilities, and repositioning it as a full-service communications and strategic public affairs agency built for the modern multicultural marketplace.

Today, Agency54 offers the full stack: advertising and marketing, public relations and public affairs, strategic communications, digital marketing, social media management, content strategy, graphic design, videography, and event planning. Its client roster includes the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport, the Birmingham-Jefferson County Convention Complex, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Talladega Superspeedway, Jefferson County Commission, and the Housing Authority of the Birmingham District.

Seventy years of serving Birmingham. Seventy years of knowing that if you want to reach Black audiences — truly reach them — the work has to be done by people who understand what’s at stake when you get it right, and what’s lost when you get it wrong.

“PR campaigns for the Black community should be steeped in cultural references and nuances,” said writer and professor Jelani Cobb. “Speak our language, resonate with our experiences, and we’ll listen.”

Agency54 has been speaking that language since 1954.

agency54.com · 📍 Birmingham, AL