Mays, Benjamin E. 1971. - Growing up in an atmosphere of racism and violence while living on his family's tenant farm, Benjamin became devoted to pursuing an education. ." While the term liberation theology perhaps belongs to a later time period, it is nevertheless applicable to Mays's views. [34] The ticket salesman only sold Mays a ticket when he lied about who it was for. [13] During this time, Benjamin Tillman rose to power in South Carolina which saw to the redoubling of lynching and segregation in Mays' neighborhood. Encyclopedia of Education. Mays continued his education at the University of Chicago, where he earned a Masters degree in 1925 and a PhD in religion in 1935. Mary McLeod Bethune rose from poverty to become one of the nations most d, Cole, Johnnetta B. Benjamin Elijah Mays was born on August 1, 1894 in Epworth, South Carolina, in the small town of Greenwood, South Carolina, the youngest of eight children. [58] Wheeler told Mays that the school had a tough time with getting tuition payments out of the students, growing their endowment, and establishing national prominence. Born on August 1, 1894 in Greenwood County, South Carolina, Mays was the youngest of eight children of former slaves Hezekiah Mays and Louvenia Carter Mays. ." [17], In 1911, he was enrolled at the Brick House School in Epworth, a Baptist-sponsored school. At the time, the university was partially funded by the U.S. Department of the Interior which prohibited funding to religious enterprises. Retrieved Jul 15, 2020, from https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/education/benjamin-mays-ca-1894-1984/. [66], Soon after primary advancements were made with the college, World War II broke out and many students were drafted for military service. Perhaps Mays's greatest influence was on the individual students he encountered both in the classroom and through the college chapel. In an article appearing in the summer 1940 issue of Christendom, he maintained that the black church was largely responsible for "keeping one-tenth of America's population sanely religious in the midst of an environment that is, for the most part, hostile to it. [23] However, its exacting standards prohibited him from attending. Mays stepped down from the Morehouse presidency in 1967 continuing to work as a leader in the African American community through national social tours. . In 1932 Mays had returned to the University of Chicago to complete his doctorate in three years. Perhaps Mayss greatest influence was on the individual students he encountered both in the classroom and through the college chapel. (1894 - 1984) Eulogy for Martin Luther King Jr. Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia - April 9, 1968. [59] On March 10, 1940, Mays was offered the presidency of Morehouse by its trustees; he moved to Atlanta shortly after. During his childhood, mob violence against blacks was rampant, and brutal lynchings were a common occurrence. Randal M. Jelks, Benjamin Elijah Mays and the Creation of an Insurgent Professional Negro Clergy, AME Church Review 118 (July-September 2002). Mays became even more directly involved in the civil rights movement in 1960 when he agreed to help students from Morehouse and other Atlanta colleges organize peaceful protests throughout the cityan action which, after 18 months, resulted in the integration of the Atlanta public school system. Benjamin Mays, president of Morehouse College from 1940 until 1967, attends a birthday party in his honor on August 11, 1973. He was the first African American to be president of the board. [22] They advised him to look into schools in the North as they were typically seen as more prestigious, challenging, and prominent than those of the South. [59] Mays expressed interest in the position but Wheeler cautioned him about the odds of him actually being offered the job. Mays' contributions to the civil rights movement have had him credited as the "movement's intellectualconscience" or alternatively the "Dean [or Schoolmaster] of the Movement". "How could I know I was not inferior to the white man, having never had a chance to compete with him?" By the mid-1960s more that half the school's graduates had entered graduate or professional schools; of its graduates, 118 had earned Ph.D.s, and by 1967, more than 300 Morehouse graduates earned M.D. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. ." He sensed that Morehouse College could and would play an important role in the lives of black America, and ultimately the country. Chase granted him a full financial aid package and boarding upon hearing his story and reviewing his academic background. With the blessing of Mordecai Johnson he became president of Morehouse on August 1, 1940. 8894; August 1971, p. 52; December 1977, pp. ." He was asked to sit at the colored area in the dining halls and was only allowed to use certain rooms for reading. The Negro's Church (1933). [65], During his first three months nothing was planned to be or currently being constructed on campus. I found a special, intangible something at . Chapel Hill, NC, USA: University of North Carolina Press, 2012. In addition, uncollected tuition and a feeble endowment inhibited expansion. In 1938 he published The Negros God, as Reflected in His Literature, a study of the image and concept of God in African American Christianity. Mays has, since 1995, been entombed on the campus of Morehouse, with his wife, Sadie Gray, after an initial burial in Augusta . King was known as Mays' "spiritual son" and Mays his "intellectual father." [33], On January 3, 1921, he then entered the University of Chicago as a graduate student, earning an M.A. he wrote in Born to Rebel. [24] Virginia Union's president warned him that studies at Bates would be "too hard for a colored boy" and that he should stay in Virginia. Martin Luther King's assassination in Memphis on April 4, 1968, Baptist Minister Benjamin Mays delivered the eulogy the only such speech in the public funeral service. Summer work as a Pullman porteras well as scholarships and loans from the collegehelped him pay his way. His time at the University of Chicago was interrupted with various opportunities. Benjamin E.Mays, Born to Rebel: An Autobiography (New York: Scribner, 1971; reprint, with a revised foreword by Orville Vernon Burton, Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2003). Increased enrollment, enriched curriculum, a better-credentialed faculty, higher revenues, and improvements to the physical plant and library gained the department a Class "A" rating from the American Association of Theological Schools and national attention for Mays. Encyclopedia of Education. [74] King and Mays promised each other that whoever outlived the other would deliver the eulogy at the other's funeral.[75][76]. College president John Hope (whom he happened to meet in the University of Chicago library) to teach higher mathematics in Atlanta. B. Cullen of Books called it a condemnation of the white treatment of the blacks in the United States and a story that should be read by everyone. Prior to his death in 1984 at the age of 89, Mays wrote dozens of scholarly articles on racial, educational, and religious issues, spoke at more than 200 universities and colleges, and received some 45 honorary degrees. Two years later, he was named national student secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), based in Atlanta. Born to Rebel: An Autobiography. Mays has, since 1995, been entombed on the campus of Morehouse, with his wife, Sadie Gray, after an initial burial in Augusta. Mays was particularly proud of the School of Religion, where he invested significant personal attention. in 1920. Alain Locke 1886-1954 An unjust penalty has been imposed upon the Negro because he is black. Robinson said of Mays: "When we first moved here it was the first team of major league caliber to ever move this far south to play baseball. Mays denied the charges. [63] In his first speech to an incoming freshman class in 1940, he said, "If Morehouse is to continue to be great; it must continue to produce outstanding personalities. Benjamin Mays - Wikipedia Casting himself as a "rebel," he greatly influenced the country and the world with his ideals and activities. Mays also convinced two of Georgia's brightest African American politicians, Andrew Young and Julian Bond, to seek public office. Digital Exhibits. Hidden History: The Legacy of Upstate native, Dr. Benjamin E. Mays - Benjamin Elijah Mays was born in SE Greenwood County in 1894, the youngest of eight children and the son of former slaves. In 1930 Mays left this post to direct a study of black churches in the United States for the Institute of Social and Religious Research in New York City. The Betrayal of the Negro: From Rutherford B. Hayes to Woodrow Wilson. [48] Mays chose to accept a position at Howard University in Washington as its dean of religious studies. At a Glance Born Benjamin Elijah Mays, August 1, 1894, in Epworth, SC; died March 21, 1984, in Atlanta. Most online reference entries and articles do not have page numbers. He returned to the University of Chicago in 1924 to complete work on his master's degree, and ten years later received his doctorate in ethics and Christian theology. The following year, he and his wife, Sadie Grey, a teacher and social worker whom he had met in Chicago, moved to Florida, where Mays took over the position of executive secretary for the Tampa Urban League. American Association of Theological Schools, Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Postcivil rights era in African-American history, "Benjamin Mays found a voice for civil rights", "Benjamin Mays, Educator, Dies; Served as Inspiration to Dr. King", "Morehouse College | Benjamin E. Mays Bio", "Tampa Riverwalk Monument Trail: Benjamin Elijah Mays", "Introduction to MMUF and Dr. Benjamin E. Mays", "HD Stock Video Footage - Dr. Benjamin E. Mays delivering benediction prayer at conclusion of "March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom", http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/kingweb/about_king/encyclopedia/mays_benjamin.htm, "April 1968: Benjamin Mays '20 delivers final eulogy for the Rev. Mays spent a year at Virginia Union University and obtained letters of recommendation from two of his professors before gaining admission to Bates College in Maine. Theologian, clergyman, writer "As a child my life was one of frustration and doubt," Long before I could visualize them, I knew within my body, my mind, and my spirit that I faced galling restrictions, seemingly insurmountable barriers, dangers and pitfalls.. "[37] His time at the University of Chicago was marked by segregation. [45], Mays first became associated with Martin Luther King Jr. during his time as a student at Morehouse College. Benjamin E. Mays served as president of Morehouse College from 1940 to 1967. A Life of Education & Leadership - Dr. Benjamin E. Mays Education, his father maintained, made men both liars and fools. [45] In 1932, Mays returned to the University of Chicago with the intent of completing a Ph.D. in line with what was asked by the Institute of Social and Religious Research of New York. [45][79][80], At age seventy-five, Mays was elected president of the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education, where he supervised the peaceful desegregation of Atlanta's public schools as a consequence of the 1970 federal court order. Web. Mays's figures also reveal a large number of Morehouse graduates occupying high administrative positions in school districts scattered around the country. [57], In January 1940, Mays was secretly approached by John Hervey Wheeler, a trustee of Morehouse College, to see if he was interested in an upcoming search for the college's next president. The memorial service took place at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, where Dr. King had studied and Dr. Mays was serving as president at the time. [70] His relationship with President Jimmy Carter was marked with "warmth" and "hospitality." - Civil Rights Icon, Dr. Benjamin E. Mays was born in 1894 in the Epworth Community by ninety . president. Mayss work for the Urban League and the YMCA similarly postponed his doctoral efforts. When Mays expressed a desire to continue his education beyond the elementary level, his father responded with anger and disdain. in . Secondly, he appealed for contributions from philanthropic foundations and friends of the college. To do that, Mays sought to be more strict in the collection of student fees, and wanted to increase Morehouse's endowment from $1,114,000. The Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Morehouse approached Mays and requested the school be shut down for the remainder of the war, which prompted Mays to lash out and reject his proposition publicly. Encyclopedia.com. Ebony, July 1954, p. 27; January 1961, p. 48; June 1965, pp. Mays, 50, was found unresponsive by his . In addition to the MLA, Chicago, and APA styles, your school, university, publication, or institution may have its own requirements for citations. He began his studies there as a sophomore in September 1917. Although Mayss essays and sermons throughout his years at Morehouse related these ideas, their clearest explication came in his book Seeking to Be a Christian in Race Relations, published in 1957. ." He served on the Mid-century White House Conference on Children and Youth. ." Born on an isolated cotton farm, Mays's earliest recollections were of the Phoenix Riots in Greenwood County during November 1898 in which several black people were lynched. When Mays expressed a desire to continue his education beyond the elementary level, his father responded with anger and disdain. After the sermons, King would run up to Mays and engage with him about the ideas he presented often following him into his office, hours after the sermon ended. Among the many distinguished Morehouse graduates he inspired were former mayor of Atlanta, Andrew Young; Georgia state senator Julian Bond; and civil rights legend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Mays rarely gives . He was appointed by President Truman to the Mid-Century White House Conference on Children and Youth. [61] In response to the caste system. In early 1940, banker and Morehouse trustee John Wheeler was dispatched by the Board of Trustees to recruit Mays for the presidency of the school. Benjamin Elijah Mays was born in 1895 in Ninety-Six, a small town in South Carolina, to parents who had been born in slavery and freed at the end of the Civil War. At that time, it was believed that the only honest occupations for black men were farming and preaching. This page was last edited on 2 July 2023, at 00:33. Encyclopedia.com. [32], Benjamin Mays died on March 28, 1984, in Atlanta, Georgia. Mays (and Nicholson), however, also found that it possessed significant constraints. Mays also continued his scholarly efforts. [32] Mays kept private the details of his relationship with his second wife; he burned the majority of letters and correspondence between them.