Dr. Benjamin E. Mays (1894-1984) was a teacher, preacher and one of the most outspoken critics of segregation prior to the modern Civil Rights Movement.
Born in Epworth, South Carolina, on August 1, 1894, Mays was the youngest of eight to former slaves. His childhood played an important role in shaping who he would become, and one of his earliest memories included a white mob approaching his family’s home on horseback forcing his father to remove his hat and bow repeatedly. The atmosphere of hate and segregation that plagued the country at that time became the defining period of his life. It was then that he realized he wanted something better for his life and for others around him.
He left Epworth to attend high school at South Carolina State College, the only state funded, historically black land-grant institution in South Carolina. In 1916, he graduated as valedictorian and continued his education at Bates College, a highly selective, private liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine, that was founded by abolitionists. Mays graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1920, and continued his education with a master’s degree in 1925 and a Ph.D. in 1935 from the University of Chicago.
In 1922, Mays was ordained a Baptist minister and served as pastor of the Shiloh Baptist Church of Atlanta from 1921–1923. Recruited by Morehouse President John Hope, Mays joined the faculty as a mathematics teacher and debate coach. He later taught at his alma mater, South Carolina State, where he met his future wife, Sadie Gray, a teacher and social worker. They were married for forty-three years, from 1926 until her death in 1969.
Mays was appointed dean of the School of Religion at Howard University in 1934 and served until he was named president of Morehouse in 1940. During his presidency, Morehouse gained international prominence: Mays upgraded the faculty, established a Phi Beta Kappa chapter and sustained enrollment during wartime America. His most noted forum was Tuesday morning Chapel in historic Sale Hall, where he challenged and inspired the students to excellence in scholarship and in life itself. One of Morehouse’s most distinguished graduates, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ’48, considered Dr. Mays his “spiritual mentor” and “intellectual father”. Mays gave the eulogy at King’s funeral.
Throughout his life, Mays emphasized two themes: the dignity of all human beings and the gap between American democratic ideals and American social practices. These became key elements of the Civil Rights Movement and Mays explored them at length in his book, Seeking to Be a Christian in Race Relations, published in 1957.
Following his retirement ten years later, Mays was elected the first black president of the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education, where he supervised the peaceful desegregation of Atlanta’s public schools. One of Atlanta’s public high schools was named in his honor: Benjamin E. Mays High School boasts a rich, rigorous curriculum that exposes students to current technology and trends. Mays also served as an adviser to Presidents Johnson and Carter and was active in the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), the Advisory Council of the Peace Corps, and the National Commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.
Throughout his educational career, Mays received 56 honorary degrees and more than 65 honors and awards from state, national and international organizations. He published nearly 2000 articles and nine books, including two autobiographies, Born to Rebel (1971) and Lord, the People Have Driven Me On (1981).
In 1981, his childhood home in Epworth was honored and a nearby intersection was renamed Mays Crossroads. Mays had been honored the year before becoming the second African American to have his portrait hung in the South Carolina State House.
Called the “Schoolmaster of the [Civil Rights] Movement” by historian Lerone Bennett Jr., Mays shaped many proud, black men, some of whom played key roles in the movement. Julian Bond remarked that “He was the embodiment of everything we wanted to be, and even though we knew we could never achieve his greatness, we strove to be like him. I revered him.”
On March 28, 1984, Dr. Mays died and was entombed on the campus of Morehouse College.
Georgia Encyclopedia, The Nation
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Concrete Loop features ‘Black History Spotlights’ each week honoring black people who have played pivotal roles in history. submissions are welcome.
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Now this is inspirational!!!!!!
I recall reverend Wright in one of his sermons stating that African Americans did not learn the same way Caucasians in America learn….That is Bullocks!!!
African American are just as capable of learning ANYTHING that caucasians can learn and they don’t need a song or a rythmn to retain scholarly things; so Wright can shove it!
This is a very good post and I hope that African Americans alike will learn that will, motivation and determination can get us anywhere!
Wow. What an awesome story. Very inspiring. Thanks for posting these pieces of our history
Keep up the good work J.Dakar…
This was a wonderful post!!! Keep up the GREAT work CL! Thank you for keeping us informed!
It brings great joy to see that homage is being paid to one of the Most Influential Men in Morehouse History.
YESSS..I’m a proud graduate of Benjamin E Mays High School…class of 2003 stand up!!!
Love My Black History!!! Thank you !!!
Great read! I really love that ya’ll do these weekly spotlights on Black Legends. As a Morehouse Alum, and a Fraternity Brother of Dr. Mays (Omega Psi Phi) I’m proud to say I walked the halls of the college institution that Dr. Mays helped to mold into THE greatest institution of higher learning for African-American men. Very inspirational!
Great Post.
I love these black history posts! African Americans have done so many wonderful things in this country and it really makes me upset that our children do not learn about them in school. How are our children going to be inspired and encouraged to succeed in life when they are limited to learning about contributions made by only a few blacks in history(i.e. MLK and Rosa Parks). We have got to broaden our children’s education of themselves and we have to do this at home b/c the history books will never be re-written to shed light on the contributions that blacks have made to the foundation of this country.
I’m really impressed with your focus to continue black history throughout the year..please continue to make us aware of all the sacrifices our people have endured to get us to where we are today….it’s greatly appreciated..
This another reason why I love the CL…….this is truly the best part of the site……Dr. Benjamin Mays was a truly amazing man and I’m glad I knew about him before you did a spotlight, but it’s never too late to learn more!!! Thanks CL!!!
These posts are the reason I love CL!! Dr. Benjamin Mays was a truly inspirational and amazing person. I’m glad I already knew about the person in the spotlight (for once LOL), but it’s always great to learn more!!! Thanks CL!!
I love these post
… Another reason why i love concreteloop! I am seldom, if ever, disappointed. Keep up the great work!
Morehouse Class of ’06 stand up!
I love these Black History Spotlights…
Some I am familiar with but most of them I’m not
They’re a little lengthy, but I always read them through
Keep it up CL
wow..he achieved a lot.inspirational!
You’ve done it once again CL! I look forward to these post, because I’m guranteed to learn something new about our ancestors. Keep up the good job.
Inspirational.
I enjoy this column more than any other thing you post on this site. Some of these people I would have never heard of before because their last name’ s don’t end with King, X, or Marshall. Keep it up CL, now all we have to do is get black people out of their “self-destructive” ways that were instilled in our forefather’s by the likes of Willie Lynch.
love the post CL please keep the black history coming!
I am going to begin to allow my niece and nephews read these black history post. The children need a balance and right now they are only getting foolish images thrown at them. I thank you CL for doing this.
I was born on the day he died. I used to work at Mays High in Atlanta and I never knew about him. Thanks for sharing.
I was born March 28, 1984, too, Goldenlady.
This post should be flooded with comments…black people are INSANE
Even though its good to have these African American spotlights I don’t enjoy reading them. It just make my blood boil to read what Black People have been subjected to and we still have coons and Uncle Toms running around today. People are satisfied with the token “progress” of today. Like if someone stabbed me in the back with a 9 inch blade and pulls out 6 inches I am supposed to be thankful. Even if he pulls out the whole 9 inches I am not going to be thankful because he shouldn’t have stabbed me in the first place.
Great post CL. It’s so funny how we never learn about any of this in school, but we we’re taught that we were slaves and that’s basically it. Thank you…this is what BET should have and not that nonsense they target our children with.
I have been checking in on this post all day and still, there are only 22 comments! Wake up BLACK people! I bet if this was a Chris and Rihanna post or Bey and Jay there would be 4 pages full..SAD!
It’s amazing how this man came up during the time, in which racists openly called black folks negroes, niggas, and it was never meant as a term of endearment, yet black folks with their lack of self-respect call each other nigga , claiming it means something positive. I, wonder what the black civil rights leaders of yesterday, would feel if they knew that young black kids were dehumanizing themselves with a word that came with lynching, being tar and feathered, forced out of their homes. And being labeled as 3/4 of a human being.
This doctor paved the way so that we wouldn’t have to suffer humiliation, it’s sad.
Please continue to post informative information about our African American ancestors. Positivity breeds positivity. CL has the capacity to reach millions. So please continue to post constructive info that uplifts our people and culture. Peace.
Sad but true. Black people need to be educated more on their ancestry. And I agree with DD. Sad that no one ever comments on these kind of posts but if it were Jay and Bey or Rihanna, we will see more than 500 comments on the one posts. Sad but true.
post*
It doesn’t matter how many people post comments. If you see a need you should try to meet it if possible, even if it’s not recognized. Just keep doing what you’re doing CL. I’m always impressed by the quality of your posts. This is one of the few websites targeted towards blacks that truly makes me proud and is done in a very tasteful and classy way. People will forever be slow to hear good & positive news or comments, but quick to jump on juicy gossip and rumors; and that’s just not blacks that all people.
At #22, I feel your pain. Back in the day, we used to have more self-pride and respect for ourselves and each other. It’s like once we started BARELY coming out from under the oppresiveness of the 60′s it stopped being “We shall overcome” and became “I’mma get mine, you get yours.”
We have such a proud, rich, impressive legacy as a people, but we don’t embrace that. We don’t pass this history, this legacy, on. But we can’t be discouraged. The more we learn about our legacy, the more we have to be proud of, but also the more we must realize that we have to live up to too.
As some of the posters influenced by Dr. Mays have indicated, they were inspired by him. But we can be someone’s “Doctor” too and inspire the next generation by doing those things that would make our ancestors proud. There is still hope!
I COMMEND YOU CL FOR CONTINUING TO TRY TO EDUCATE US EVEN WHEN SOME OF DON’T WANT TO BE!
The Black History are the higlight of my week!
I tell everyone (black, white, or otherwise) about our AMERICAN history.
Keep up the good work CL!!!
i love me black people…we don’t get enough credit and i’m glad this was posted.
thank you concreteloop for putting black known history facts out here w/o the funny so people won’t forget; see we as blacks have the tendacy to have short term memory losses when we are riding high and doing O.K. as my mom use to say you have people who; WALK AROUND W/ THEIR ASS ON THEIR SHOULDERS”. they think that they have it made. or they belong to some social club or org. which is defined in my eyes as a click- or a clack [the wanna-be's]. i still feel after 40 yrs. since 1968. we as blacks are still lost in that desert roaming, some doing better than others. depending on the splinder group who you belong to. going back to my fire ant theory. back in 1921 in tulsa ok. them people didn’t look for the gov’t to solve their problems because they ran the show. black land barons and bussiness owners DR.s etc. they didn’t look to a gov’t that despised them. self educated black and rich, it was all taken by the black wall street race riot. my point is why come it can’t be that way again? i know everyone want to be a chief and don’t want to be no indian. leaning on a gov’t who’s president flew right over the suffering in new orleans, but broke his neck to stand on the rubble at ground zero in N.Y. so folks keep on perputrating the false front cause i speak out about it , i don’t know my place and by this the powers or the fake people, therefore discredit you or if that don’t work them they kill you. but you can get the messenger but you can’t stop the message. i can’t tell or give any advice to black america to wake up cause i feel its to late. your asleep at the switch. so keep robbing and killing and causing all kinds of kaos in these cities. keep revering rap music and thugging out. keep hating on your fellow black man or woman. do it in the name of heaven you can justify it in the end.
You guys at the loop are great!!!! Black history is seldom discussed in such detail. Thanks for sharing this with the masses and keep up the good work!!!!
I like reading about black history, Good job CL.. I read about him in one of my classes at Grambling State.. It really inspired me..
his story is very inspirational, black people need to go back to the self reliance and black owned businesses that helped us survive and prosper in the pre-civil rights era
I’m a proud High School Graduate of B.E. Mays High School 2002! GODOBE!!! Thanks CL! And please don’t stop doing this. Sharing our history is much needed. I’m glad that you are using your popularity for good! Much respect to the CL team!
Great post keep up the good work.
Life is just a minute-only sixty seconds in it.
Forced upon you-can refuse it.
Didn’t seek it-didn’t choose it.
But it’s up to you to use it.
You must suffer if you lose it.
Give an account if you abuse it.
Just a tiny, little minute,
But eternity is in it!
-Dr. Benjamin E. Mays
oh yeah, Morehouse c/o ’02 stand up!
Excellent………………………
great profile. thanks cl!
Wonderful! A great man he was!
A proud alum of B.E Mays High School in Atlanta, GA (04′)
There is also a male dormitory on South Carolina State University campus named after him called “Mays Hall”. This story is so inspirational, like Nas said they can’t stop us now.
feels good to read such inspirational biographies, i’ve always hoped to have a huge impact in the world some day.
Brilliant!! We need more like him, the image of the black man is somewhat tarnished, his kind is rare these days, but i’m sure they’re out there!
Dang, that was powerful. Never underestimate what you can do in one lifetime is what I got from reading that piece. Thanks for sharing Mr. Dakar
this is a really good post CL – the name did sound familiar but i really appreciate these posts – makes me feel a little closer to the truth of things. please keep up the good work cl
I really enjoy seeing these type of posts. CL stays on top of the pop culture and the history (that which has been made and that which is being defined).
Keep up the great work.
SC State stand up! They have 2 sets of male dorms in his name on campus
No I feel better lerking on this site. I am gonna printthis out for my children to read. Hmmm!! I wish there was a print button.
SimonaOnae
http://WWW.SHESGOTCURVES.COM
excellent post! I wish there were more Black men like this now, especially in a time where everything is accessible to us! You would think things would be much better, but it is not! Kudos to CL for posts like these!
I love these black history facts that Concreteloop provides! Keep up the good work!
My people…we are great…we got a wonderful history…it will never…never die…
this is so fresh…thank you for keeping the history alive…stay up
We are f-a-m-i-l-y… Mays-Powell this man is my great- great- great uncle
I did many reports about him as a child during black history month.
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