Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays (ca. August 1, 1894 (?) – March 28, 1984) was an African-American minister, educator, scholar, social activist and the president of Morehouse College in Atlanta. He was also a significant mentor to civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and was among the most articulate and outspoken critics of segregation before the rise of the modern civil rights movement in the United States. August 1 is the 213th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (214th in leap years), with 152 days remaining. ... 1894 (MDCCCXCIV) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... March 28 is the 87th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (88th in leap years). ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... A scholar is either a student or someone who has achieved a mastery of some academic discipline, perhaps receiving financial support through a scholarship. ... Morehouse College is a private, four-year, historically black liberal arts college for African-American men located on a 61 acre (247,000 m²) campus in Atlanta, Georgia. ... This article is about the state capital of Georgia. ... Martin Luther King, Jr. ...

Education

Benjamin Elijah Mays was born in 1895 in Ninety Six, South Carolina, the youngest of eight children; his parents were tenant farmers and former slaves. After spending a year at Virginia Union University, he moved north to attend Bates College in Maine, where he obtained his B.A. in 1920, then entered the University of Chicago as a graduate student, earning an M.A. in 1925 and a Ph.D. in the School of Religion in 1935. His education at Chicago was interrupted several times: he was ordained a Baptist minister in 1922 and accepted a pastorate at the Shiloh Baptist Church of Atlanta, then later taught at Morehouse and at South Carolina State College. Ninety Six is a town located in Greenwood County, South Carolina. ... Virginia Union University is an historically black university located in Richmond, Virginia, which was founded in 1865 by a former slave trader. ... For other uses, see Bates (disambiguation), Bates (surname) Bates College is a private liberal arts college, founded in 1855, located in Lewiston, Maine, in the United States. ... Official language(s) None Capital Augusta Largest city Portland Area  - Total   - Width   - Length    - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 39th 33,414 sq mi  86,542 km² 190 miles  305 km 320 miles  515 km 13. ... 1920 (MCMXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January January 3 - Babe Ruth is traded by the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees for $125,000, the largest sum ever paid for a player at that time. ... The University of Chicago is a private university located principally in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... A Baptist is a member of a Baptist church. ... In most Protestant churches, a minister is a member of the ordained clergy who leads a congregation or participates in a role in a parachurch ministry; such a person may also be called a Pastor, Preacher, Bishop, Chaplain or Elder. ... 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... South Carolina State University (also known as SCSU, or simply State), is a Historically Black University located in Orangeburg, South Carolina. ...

While in graduate school Mays worked as a Pullman Porter. He also worked as a student assistant to Dr. Lacey Kirk Williams, pastor of Olivet Baptist Church in Chicago and President of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. The Pullman Palace Car Company, owned by George Pullman, manufactured railroad train cars in the mid to late 1800s through the early decades of the 20th century, during the boom of railroads in the United States. ... The National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. ...

Career and Accomplishments

While working on his doctorate Mays and Joseph Nicholson published a study entitled The Negro's Church, the first sociological study of African-American religion and clerical practices. Four years later, in 1938 he published The Negro's God as Reflected in His Literature. Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. ... 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ...

In 1926 he was appointed executive secretary of the Tampa, Florida Urban League. After two years at this post he became National Student Secretary of the YMCA. 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Flag Seal Nickname: Cigar City, The Big Guava, T-Town Location Location in Hillsborough County and the state of Florida. ... National Urban League Logo The National Urban League is a non-profit, nonpartisan, civil rights and community-based movement that advocates on behalf of Black Americans and against racial discrimination. ... YMCAs in the United States and Canada use this logo. ...

Mays accepted the position of Dean of the School of Religion at Howard University in Washington, D.C. in 1934. During his six years there Mays traveled to India, where, at the urging of Howard Thurman, a fellow professor at Howard, he spoke at some length with Mahatma Gandhi. Howard University is a historically black university in Washington, D.C.. Notable alumni include Toni Morrison, Thurgood Marshall, Ossie Davis, Debbie Allen, and Phylicia Rashad. ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Howard Thurman Howard Thurman (born 1900 in Daytona Beach, Florida - April 10, 1981 in Daytona Beach, Florida) was an author, philosopher, theologian, educator and civil rights leader. ... // Early life Gandhi and his wife Kasturba (1902) Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born into a Hindu Modh family in Porbandar, Gujarat, India in 1869. ...

In 1940 Mays became the president of Morehouse College. His most famous student there was Martin Luther King Jr. The two developed a close relationship that continued until King's death in 1968; Mays delivered the eulogy for King. 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ... Morehouse College is a private, four-year, historically black liberal arts college for African-American men located on a 61 acre (247,000 m²) campus in Atlanta, Georgia. ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ...

Mays emphasized two themes throughout his life: the dignity of all human beings and the gap between American democratic ideals and American social practices. Those became key elements of the message of King and the American civil rights movement. Mays explored these themes at length in his book Seeking to Be a Christian in Race Relations, published in 1957. The civil rights movement in the United States has been a long, primarily nonviolent struggle to bring full civil rights and equality under the law to all citizens of United States. ... 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

After his retirement in 1967 from Morehouse, Mays was elected president of the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education, where he supervised the peaceful desegregation of Atlanta's public schools. He published two autobiographies, Born to Rebel (1971), and Lord, the People Have Driven Me On (1981). 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... A board of education or a school board or school committee is the title of the board of directors of a local school district. ... An Autobiography is an account of a persons life written by that person For music albums named Autobiography, see Autobiography (album) An autobiography (from the Greek auton, self, bios, life and graphein, write) is a biography written by the subject or composed conjointly with a collaborative writer (styled as...

Dr. Mays died in Atlanta on March 28,1984 and years later he and his wife Sadie's remains were entombed on the campus of Morehouse College.

References

• Article in the New Georgia Encyclopedia by Peter A. Kuryla.

Further reading

Benjamin Elijah Mays, Born to Rebel Revised foreword by Orville Vernon Burton, (Athens and London: University of Georgia Press, 2003). ISBN 0-8203-2523-6.