“M” is for Mays, Benjamin Elijah (1894-1984). Civil rights activist, writer, college president. Born in what is now Greenwood County, Mays—from early childhood—had an insatiable desire for education. After finishing the high school program at South Carolina State College, he graduated from Bates College. Over the next decade he became an ordained Baptist clergman, held various teaching positions, and went to the University of Chicago where he obtained his Ph.D. Mays joined the faculty of Howard University in 1934. In 1940 he accepted the presidency of Morehouse College in Atlanta. For the next twenty-seven years, under his leadership Morehouse became one of the most prestigious Black universities in America. 1970 Benjamin Elijah Mays published his autobiography Born to Rebel, which has stood as an invaluable contribution to the study of American race relations.
“M” is for Mays, Benjamin Elijah (1894-1984)
