Lillian Gill was born in Mississippi but later moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1936. She is a businesswoman who worked selling Nutrilite Food Supplement (now part of the Amway Corporation) and insurance underwriter for the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company and the Great Lakes Mutual Life Insurance Company.
Much of her life has been devoted to religious, civic, political, and fraternal activities and organizations. She has been a long-time member of New Hope Baptist Church in Grand Rapids and has participated in state and regional African American Baptists organizations, notably the Western District Association of Baptist Churches of Michigan and the General Baptist State Convention of Michigan.
In politics, Lillian Gill has been active in local Democratic party affairs and has participated in various local elections, notably as a candidate to serve as delegate to Michigan's Constitutional Convention in 1961.
An extremely energetic woman, Gill was also active in the Order of the Eastern Star, affiliate of the International Free and Accepted Modern Masons. She participated both locally in the Queen Esther Chapter and on the state and national level. She has been Grand Matron of Michigan, Illustrious Grand Matron, and Supreme Sovereign of Stars among other positions.
From the guide to the Lillian Gill papers, 1950s-2007, (Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan)
