View source for Benjamin Mays

{{Short description|American Baptist minister}}
{{use mdy dates |date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| office              = 6th [[Morehouse College#History|President of Morehouse College]]<!--- Per WP:LINKDIRECT --->
| image               = Benjamin Mays Portrait 1921.png
| predecessor         = [[Morehouse College|Charles D. Hubert]]<br> ''{{small|As Acting President}}''
| successor           = [[Hugh Gloster]]
| office2             = 1st Dean of the School of Religion at<br> [[Howard University]]
| predecessor2        = ''Position established''
| party               = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| termend2            = January 3, 1941
| termstart2          = January 1, 1934
| successor2          = John Moore
| birth_name          = Benjamin Elijah Mays
| birth_date          = {{birth date|mf=yes|1894|8|1}}
| birth_place         = {{nowrap|[[Ninety Six, South Carolina]], U.S.}}
| death_date          = {{death date and age|mf=yes|1984|3|28|1894|8|1}}
| death_place         = [[Atlanta]], Georgia, U.S.
| resting_place       = Dr. Benjamin E. Mays Memorial<br>Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
| spouse              = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Ellen Harvin|1920|1923}}
* {{marriage|[[Sadie Gray Mays|Sadie Gray]]|1926|1969}}
}}
| parents             = Louvenia Carter Mays<br>Hezekiah Mays
| alma_mater          = [[Virginia Union University]]<br>[[Bates College]]<br>[[University of Chicago]]<!--- Don't add the degrees next to the schools, it looks tacky and isn't truly necessary according to WP:MOS.--->
| nickname            = "Bennie"; "Buck Bennie"
| known_for           = Civil rights activism
| term_start          = {{Start date|1940|08|1}}
| term_end            = {{End date|1967|07|1}}
}}

'''Benjamin Elijah Mays''' (August 1, 1894 – March 28, 1984) was an American [[Baptists|Baptist]] minister and [[Civil rights movement|civil rights]] leader who is credited with laying the intellectual foundations of the American [[Civil rights movement (1896–1954)|civil rights movement]]. Mays taught and mentored many influential activists, including [[Martin Luther King Jr.|Martin Luther King Jr]], [[Julian Bond]], [[Maynard Jackson]], and [[Donn Clendenon]], among others. His rhetoric and intellectual pursuits focused on Black self-determination. Mays' commitment to social justice through nonviolence and [[civil resistance]] were cultivated from his youth through the lessons imbibed from his parents and eldest sister. The peak of his public influence coincided with his nearly three-decade tenure as the sixth president of [[Morehouse College]], a [[Historically black colleges and universities|historically black institution]] of higher learning, in [[Atlanta|Atlanta, Georgia]]. <!--This article uses W:MOSCITE, which entitles it to use little to no citations as long as it is cited in the main article.-->

Mays was born in the [[Jim Crow]] South on a repurposed cotton plantation to freed sharecroppers. He traveled North to attend [[Bates College]] and the [[University of Chicago]] from where he began his career in activism as a pastor in Georgia's [[Shiloh Baptist Church stampede|Shiloh Baptist Church]]. After a brief career as a professor, he was appointed the founding Dean of the School of Religion at [[Howard University]] in 1934 which elevated him to national prominence as a proponent of the [[New Negro]] movement. Six years later, Mays was tapped to lead Morehouse out of its financial insecurity. Over his tenure from 1940 to 1967, the college's financial endowment doubled, enrollment quadrupled, and it became academically competitive. By the 1960s, Mays established the college as a feeder school for "[[List of African-American firsts|African-American firsts]]" in the United States.<!--See Morehouse College section.-->

Due to the college's small student body, Mays personally mentored many students, most notably King; the two first met in 1944. King was known as Mays' "spiritual son" and Mays his "intellectual father". After King's "[[I Have a Dream|I Have A Dream]]" speech at the [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom]]&nbsp;in 1963, Mays gave the [[benediction]]. Five years later, upon [[Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.|King's assassination]] and death, Mays delivered the eulogy where he described King in his "[[#Connection to Martin Luther King Jr.|No Man is Ahead of His Time]]" speech. Mays stepped down from the Morehouse presidency in 1967 continuing to work as a leader in the African American community through national social tours. He presided over the [[Atlanta Public Schools|Atlanta Board of Education]] from 1969 to 1978, where he initiated the [[Racial segregation in Atlanta|racial desegregation of Atlanta]].

Mays' contributions to the civil rights movement have had him credited as the "movement's intellectual&nbsp;conscience" or alternatively the "[[#Death and legacy|Dean [or Schoolmaster] of the Movement]]".<ref name="auto1">{{cite web|url=http://www.uchicago.edu/features/benjamin_mays%20/|title=Benjamin Mays found a voice for civil rights|date=April 4, 2017|website=The University of Chicago|language=en|access-date=September 20, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/03/29/obituaries/benjamin-mays-educator-dies-served-as-inspiration-to-dr-king.html|title=Benjamin Mays, Educator, Dies; Served as Inspiration to Dr. King|last=Prial|first=Frank J.|date=November 3, 1984|work=The New York Times|access-date=September 20, 2018|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Historian [[Lawrence Carter (historian)|Lawrence Carter]] described Mays as "one of the most significant figures in American history".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bates.edu/news/2008/02/01/mays-and-king/|title=Mays and King|date=November 2, 2008|access-date=September 20, 2018|language=en}}</ref>{{sfn|Jelks|2012|p=292–98}} Memorials include [[#Sites and honors|hundreds of streets]], buildings, statues, awards, scholarships, grants, and fellowships named in his honor. [[#Sites and honors|Numerous efforts]] have been brought forward to [[posthumous award|posthumously award]] Mays the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] as well as feature him on a [[Postage stamps and postal history of the United States|U.S. postage stamp]]. Mays has, since 1995, been entombed on the campus of Morehouse, with his wife, Sadie Gray, after an initial burial in [[Augusta, Georgia|Augusta]].
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== Early life ==

Benjamin Elijah Mays was born on August 1, 1894, in Epworth, South Carolina, in the small county of [[Greenwood, South Carolina|Greenwood]], South Carolina, the youngest of eight children.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=5}} His mother, Louvenia Carter Mays, and father, Hezekiah Mays, were born into [[Slavery in the United States|slavery]] on [[Virginia]] and South Carolina [[Plantations in the American South|plantations]], respectively.{{sfn|Roper|2012|pp=5–6}} Both were [[freedman|freed]] in their later lives with the passage of the 1863 [[Emancipation Proclamation]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mayshousemuseum.org/Page3.htm|title=Mays House Museum - History|last=Mays House Museum|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160122070027/http://www.mayshousemuseum.org/Page3.htm|archive-date=2016-01-22|url-status=usurped}}</ref> Mays' father often hit him, his siblings and Louvenia growing up, expressing anger about how he was treated by his [[Master–slave morality|master]].{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=6}} The "Mays" family name was derived from their slaver and owner's name, Henry Hazel Mays; he owned 14 slaves in the same area.{{sfn|Roper|2012|pp=7, 10}} Hezekiah worked as a cotton [[Sharecropping|sharecropper]] to generate income for his family.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=11}}

Mays was told to be cautious of white people and exhibit [[black pride]] whenever possible growing up.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=6}} Mays' older sister, Susie, began to teach him how to read before his formal schooling commenced, which gave him a year's growth in reading compared to the other students in his primary schools. School officials cited him as "destined for greatness".{{sfn|Dumas|2006|p=33}} Growing up, he went by the nickname "Bennie" and was inspired by [[Frederick Douglass]], [[Booker T. Washington]], and [[Thomas E. Miller]].{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=12}} [[Bible|The Bible]] was influential to young Mays because he could see his name (of Biblical origins) mentioned frequently, instilling a feeling of empowerment within.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=13}} During this time, [[Benjamin Tillman]] rose to power in South Carolina which saw to the redoubling of [[lynching]] and [[Racial segregation|segregation]] in Mays' neighborhood.{{sfn|Roper|2012|pp=17–18}} Throughout his tenure as governor, 18 black men were lynched and dozens were hurt in the [[South Carolina gubernatorial election, 1876|1876 shoot-off]].{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=25}} On November 8, 1898, members of the Phoenix Riot–a white supremacist mob–rode up on horses to the Mays household, a repurposed cotton [[Plantations in the American South|plantation]]. They drew their guns at Mays' father and told him to remove his hat and bow down to them.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=15}} The event would stay with Mays throughout his life.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=15}} A year later, white mobs and [[Ku Klux Klan]] members searched his house in search of relatives after local newspapers announced that cotton prices had plummeted.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=33}}

=== Early education ===
[[File:Entrance to Coram Library.jpg|thumb|Mays traveled to Maine to study at [[Bates College]] when he was 23.]]In 1911, he was enrolled at the Brick House School in Epworth, a [[Baptists in the United States|Baptist]]-sponsored He also was enrolled in Bethany Industrial Graded School in McCormick, South Carolina founded by his church pastor Rev. James Foster Marshall.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=35}} He then transferred to the High School Department of [[South Carolina State University|South Carolina State College]] in [[Orangeburg, South Carolina|Orangeburg]]. He graduated in 1916, aged 22 as its [[valedictorian]].{{sfn|Roper|2012|pp=44–46}} In high school, teachers often let Mays instruct parts of the mathematics curriculum to students in exchange for extra credit.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=47}} He won awards for debate and mathematics.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=52}} A teacher at the school had told Mays to seek graduate school at the [[University of Chicago]] as he thought the school would best nurture Mays' intellect.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=52}} However, before attending graduate school Mays needed to seek an undergraduate education. His relatives and teachers forced him to attend a Baptist university–the [[Virginia Union University]]. He grew weary of the violence against blacks in Virginia so he sought the guidance of his academic advisors at Virginia Union.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=55}} 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.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=55}}

Four professors at the university had attended [[Bates College]] in [[Lewiston, Maine|Lewiston]], Maine and urged Mays to apply.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=55–57}} However, its exacting standards prohibited him from attending. After a year more in [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]], Mays elevated his grades to the top of his class and wrote personally to Bates president [[George Colby Chase]]. Chase granted him a full financial aid package and boarding upon hearing his story and reviewing his academic background.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=59, 60, 62–64}} 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.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=59}} Mays ignored his warnings and enrolled in 1917, aged 23.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=59}} While at Bates he felt pressure to compete with "[[Anti-Americanism|Yankees]] at the Yankee level" which drove him to dedicate him to his studies.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=60}} He would write in a diary: "Yankee superiority was the gauntlet thrown down. I had to pick it up."{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=61}} Working to midnight weekly and arising at 4 AM, Mays excelled at [[Greek alphabet|Greek]], mathematics, and speech.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=64}} Although he would experience little racism in college, upon seeing ''[[The Birth of a Nation]]'' in a local cinema, the crowd cheered for the white slaver which frightened Mays.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=68}} In college, he was captain of the debate team, played on the football team and served as the Class Day Speaker. He graduated with departmental honors with a [[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]] in 1920. Contrary to popular writing and official college records, Mays never received [[Phi Beta Kappa]]; his attendance of a "high school school from the South" disqualified him.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=71}}

=== Marriages ===
Shortly after graduation, he married his first wife, Ellen Edith Harvin, in August 1920 in [[Newport News, Virginia|Newport News]], Virginia.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=73}} The two met when Mays was still in South Carolina and wrote to each other frequently. She was a [[home economics]] teacher at a local college before she died after a brief illness two years after they married at age 28.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=Benjamin Elijah Mays|last=Dumas|first=Carrie|publisher=Mercer University Press|year=2006|isbn=0881460168|location=Ladd Library, Bates College, Lewiston, Maine|pages=33, 144, 200}}</ref> He met his second wife, [[Sadie Gray Mays|Sadie Gray]], while working at [[South Carolina State University|South Carolina State College]]. After months of courtship, they married on August 9, 1926.<ref name=":2" /> Mays kept private the details of his relationship with his second wife; he burned the majority of letters and correspondence between them.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=75}}

== Early academic career ==
[[File:University of Chicago Bartlett.jpg|thumb|Mays studied at the [[University of Chicago]] after receiving his B.A. from [[Bates College|Bates]]; he received a [[Master of Arts|M.A.]] in 1925 and [[PhD]]. in 1935.]]
On January 3, 1921, he then entered the [[University of Chicago]] as a graduate student, earning an [[Master of Arts|M.A.]] in 1925. Early on in his academic career he decided to join [[Omega Psi Phi]], a national fraternity for colored men.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=107}} This organization was known for pooling resources and information among its members so Mays viewed it with great interest. Mays viewed it as "a mountain top from which he could see above and beyond".{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=107}} In 1924, upon hearing news that there was to be a fraternity meeting in [[St. Louis]], Missouri, Mays traveled by train. However, his decision to travel first class from [[Birmingham, Alabama|Birmingham]] to St. Louis was indirectly against the [[Jim Crow laws]].{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=107}} The ticket salesman only sold Mays a ticket when he lied about who it was for.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=107}} While riding to St. Louis, the Pullman warned Mays that he was risking his life by sitting in first class and that he should get off at the next stop.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=107}} Shortly after, three white men, guns drawn, escorted Mays into a car in the back known as the "Jim Crow car".{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=108}} He eventually made it to the Omega Psi Phi meeting, where he spoke of his experience.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=108}}

To finance his time in university, Mays worked as a [[Pullman porter|Pullman Porter]], a railway assistant.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=79}} Much of the money he had earned growing up was spent financing his time at Bates, on Christmas Day 1921, Mays held only 45 dollars ({{Inflation|US|45|1921|fmt=eq}}).{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=80}} Mays began labor organizing to increase his wage, which was seen negatively by the Porter managers. Although he legally established a labor group for Pullman Porters, he was fired from his job for "attracting too much attention to [[labor rights]]."{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=80}} His time at the University of Chicago was marked by [[Racial segregation|segregation]]. He was asked to sit at the colored area in the dining halls and was only allowed to use certain rooms for reading.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=81}} Mays tolerated the segregation with the mindset that he was "only there to get a degree, to convince another brilliant set of Yankees that he could do their work."{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=81}} Although he was licensed to preach in 1919, he was officially [[Ordination|ordained]] a Baptist minister in 1921.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=81}} During this time he encountered John Hope, the current president of [[Morehouse College]]. Hope spoke to Mays about the lack of "a fine education for the colored in Atlanta".{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=80}} Mays traveled to Atlanta in 1921 and served as a pastor at the Shiloh Baptist Church until 1923.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.morehouse.edu/about/bio-bmays.html|title=Morehouse College {{!}} Benjamin E. Mays Bio|last=College|first=Morehouse|website=www.morehouse.edu|language=en|access-date=2018-02-22}}</ref> In March 1925, Mays was award an M.A. in religious studies from the university.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=117}} Upon receiving his master's degree, he wrote to the pastorate with his intention of resigning to pursue a doctorate in the coming years.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=118}} However, due to his financial status, he took up a teaching position instructing English at [[South Carolina State University|South Carolina State College]] from 1925 to 1926.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=119}} Mays left his teaching position after routinely clashing with other faculty over [[grade inflation]] and academic standards.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=126}}

In 1926, he moved to [[Tampa, Florida]], to serve as the director of the Tampa [[Urban League]]. While there, the Urban League produced what became known as the "Mays Report", which detailed the growth of Tampa's African-American communities and the difficulties they experienced living in segregated neighborhoods. Though he did not stay in the area for long, Mays made enough of an impact on the nascent push for civil rights in the region that he has been honored with a bust on the [[Tampa Riverwalk]] Historical Monument Trail.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tampa Riverwalk Monument Trail: Benjamin Elijah Mays |url=https://thetampariverwalk.com/visit/historical-monument-trail.html/title/benjamin-elijah-mays |website=thetampariverwalk.com |publisher=Friends of the Tampa Riverwalk |access-date=16 March 2022 |language=en}}</ref> From 1928 to 1930, he lived in Atlanta and served as the national student secretary of the [[YMCA|Young Men's Christian Association]] (YMCA).{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=126}} A couple of months later, he was asked to serve as the director of Study of Black Churches in the United States by the Institute of Social and Religious Research of New York.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TW2AIp2Ld1sC&q=benjamin+mays|title=Dr. Benjamin E. Mays Speaks: Representative Speeches of a Great American Orator|last=Colston|first=Freddie C.|date=October 1, 2002|publisher=University Press of America|isbn=9780761823438|language=en}}</ref> 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.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=117}} After some deliberation between fields of studies he could pursue a doctorate in, he eventually decided to study religion and not mathematics or philosophy.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=118}} Mays also worked as a student assistant to Dr. Lacey Kirk Williams, pastor of [[Olivet Baptist Church (Chicago)|Olivet Baptist Church]] in Chicago and President of the [[National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.|National Baptist Convention]].<ref name=":2" /> In 1933, he wrote his first book with Joseph Nicholson, ''[[The Negro's Church]]''. It was the first sociological study of the [[black church]] in the United States and was submitted to the university faculty as his dissertation in 1935.{{sfn|Roper|2012|pp=150, 156}} Historian John Herbert Roper estimates that Mays was one of 20 African Americans to earn a doctorate during that year.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=159}}

=== Howard University ===
[[File:Founders Library, Howard University.jpg|thumb|Mays worked at [[Howard University]] from 1934 to 1940.]]
Shortly after receiving his doctorate, he was called by the presidents of multiple universities to lead their religion departments.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=174}} Mays chose to accept a position at [[Howard University]] in [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]] as its dean of religious studies.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=175}} He was instructed to build up the department and establish a reputation for well-trained ministers.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=175}} Mays first renovated its library and secured loans from the federal government to expand it.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=180}} His second objective was to separate the federally-funded portions of Howard University from the new school of religion. At the time, the university was partially funded by the [[United States Department of the Interior|U.S. Department of the Interior]] which prohibited funding to religious enterprises.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=181}} After he successfully removed the School of Religion from the auspices of the federal government he was tasked with securing funding from wealthy donors from the North.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=182}}

Mays secured a multi-million dollar package from donors by 1930, and was averaging yearly contributions of $750,000 during the [[Great Depression in the United States|Great Depression]].{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=182}} The expanding Department of the Interior under [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], coupled with Mays' fundraising led to unprecedented growth at the university.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=183}} Salaries for professors increased, new dorms were built and refurbished, the library Mays had been developing was completed, and new lecture halls were established.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=183}} In 1938, he published his second book, ''The Negro's God as Reflected in His Literature''. In 1939, he secured a large collection of theology books for his new library which prompted the [[Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada|American Association of Theological Schools]] to accredit the new School of Religion.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=189}} During this time Mays developed a reputation for exacting standards and elitism.<ref>{{harvtxt|Roper|2012|p=182}} states: "Mays was not afraid to be an elitist, but he preferred the treat of merit, value, and worthiness."</ref> He was a vocal opponent of the notion that black men are inherently more violent than their white counterparts in universities.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=192}} He was a vocal proponent of the [[New Negro]] movement and frequently lectured about its foundlings and applications.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=193}}

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.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=204}} Wheeler told Mays that the school had a tough time with getting tuition payments out of the students, growing their [[Financial endowment|endowment]], and establishing national prominence.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=205}} Mays expressed interest in the position but Wheeler cautioned him about the odds of him actually being offered the job.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=205}} On March 10, 1940, Mays was offered the presidency of Morehouse by its trustees; he moved to Atlanta shortly after.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=205}} When Mays left Howard University, he was honored with the renaming of the newly constructed home of the divinity school to "Benjamin Mays Hall".<ref name=":2" />

==== Meeting with Gandhi ====
In 1936–37, Mays traveled to [[Mysore]], India, where, at the urging of [[Howard Thurman]], a fellow professor at Howard, he spoke at some length with [[Mahatma Gandhi]].{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=193}} The two spoke for an hour and a half about the realities and powers of [[Pacifism in the United States|militant pacifism]] which he used to shape his civil rights ideology and practice.{{sfn|Roper|2012|pp=193–95}} Mays asked Gandhi about the influence [[nonviolence]] had in his life and what his personal thoughts were on the [[caste system in India]].{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=195}} Gandhi told Mays that there was never an instance where violence was acceptable especially that which was undertaken in retaliation.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=195}} He was told that "one must pay the price for protest, even with one's life".{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=195}} In response to the caste system. Gandhi believed that there those with darker skin were not inherently untouchable but labeled it a "necessary economic injustice".{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=196}}

== Morehouse College, 1940–1967 ==

=== Early years ===
[[File:Benjamin Mays.jpg|thumb|Mays as the 6th president of [[Morehouse College]].]]Mays was offered the presidency on March 10 and inaugurated the sixth president on August 1, 1940.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=208}} Upon his assumption of the presidency, the school was in severe financial distress.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=208}} 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."<ref name="Jelks, Randal Maurice 2012">Jelks, Randal Maurice. Benjamin Elijah Mays, Schoolmaster of the Movement : A Biography. Chapel Hill, NC, USA: University of North Carolina Press, 2012. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 5 November 2014.</ref> Mays set out to improve the training of Morehouse men, increase enrollment, grow its endowment, and collect tuition payments.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=208}}

Many associated with the college referenced him as a "builder of men".<ref name=":2" /> To improve the training of Morehouse men, Mays set out to advance a new curriculum based on the [[New Negro]] movement.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=210}} He specifically wished to increase the training of black physicians, ministers and lawyers.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=210}} Although Morehouse College was not a [[Medical school|medical]], [[Law school|law]], or [[Theology|ministry school]], it was a feeder institution into them so Mays took the preparation of his students into these schools seriously.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=210}}

=== Financial planning ===
During his first three months nothing was planned to be or currently being constructed on campus.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=208}} Mays had inherited "mountains of uncollected student bills" which served as a threat to the [[Market liquidity|liquidity]] of the college.{{sfn|Roper|2012|p=208}} In 1933, Morehouse was doing so poorly financially that it had allowed [[Clark Atlanta University|Atlanta University]] to take over its financial direction and budget. He earned a reputation for being a [[Penny Pinchers|penny-pincher]] and demanded tuition fees on time, which earned him the nickname "Buck Bennie;" the student newspaper occasionally ran headlines such as "Buck Bennie Rides Again", during the first couple of years of his Morehouse presidency.<ref name=":7" /> However, he often helped students pay their bills by offering work or finding it around campus. He would write to the employers of the college's graduates to ask them how the recent grads were doing as a way to measure the Morehouse education.<ref name=":7" /> Within two years of his presidency, Mays was so successful that he was able to regain control of Morehouse's finances.<ref name="Mays, Benjamin E. 2003">Mays, Benjamin E.. Born to Rebel : An Autobiography. Athens, GA, USA: University of Georgia Press, 2003. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 5 November 2014.</ref>

=== Effects of World War II ===
Soon after primary advancements were made with the college, [[World War II]] broke out and many students were [[Draft evasion|drafted for military service]]. 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. Mays counter-proposal was to open the school to younger students who were ineligible to be drafted. He moved to improve the academic quality of the students by lowering admissions rates, and reforming the academic platform. College faculty were often encouraged to befriend students and provided them with guidance in a tumultuous social scene at the time.<ref name=":2" />

=== Recognition ===
The introduction to his speech compilation at Morehouse notes him with the following:

<blockquote>In physical stature Mays stood six feet tall, but appeared taller because of his erect posture--a habit he developed during his youth to walk around with dignity and pride; he weighed approximately 180 pounds and had a full head of iron-grey air with a contrasting dark complexion. His distinctive physical appearance commented his towering intellectual stature. When Mays walked into a room, eyes were likely to focus in his direction. His mere physical presence attracted attention.<ref name=":7" />   </blockquote>

He received an [[Honorary degree|honorary doctorate]] and the "Alumnus of the Year" Award from [[Bates College]] in 1947 and the [[University of Chicago]] in 1949, respectively.<ref name="auto2">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TW2AIp2Ld1sC&q=benjamin+mays|title=Dr. Benjamin E. Mays Speaks: Representative Speeches of a Great American Orator|last=Mays|first=Benjamin Elijah|date=2002-01-01|publisher=University Press of America|isbn=9780761823438|language=en}}</ref> Although he was a college president, he was not allowed to vote in the 1950s until he was 52 years old.<ref name=":7" /> ''Pulpit'', a magazine focusing on black religious preachers, ranked him among the top 20 preachers in America in 1954. The same year he was one of the "Top Ten Most Powerful Negros" in the nation according to black magazine, ''[[Our World (TV series)|Our World]].''<ref name=":7" />

=== Jackie Robinson ===
In 1966, as president, Mays was invited to sit at an [[Atlanta Braves]] baseball game as a guest-of-honor by [[Jackie Robinson]] when the sports franchise moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta. Robinson invited Mays because of his efforts to integrate the baseball team in Atlanta. 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. And of course [Mays] was one of the guys, one of the persons really that made things a lot easier for myself and some of the other black ball players."<ref name=":4">{{cite web|url=https://knowitall.org/sites/default/files/Transcript%20Benjamin%20E.%20Mays.pdf|title=Transcript-Benjamin Mays|access-date=April 19, 2017|archive-date=April 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170420142949/https://knowitall.org/sites/default/files/Transcript%20Benjamin%20E.%20Mays.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Roles in the White House ===
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| image1 = Jimmy Carter with Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King, Sr. and other civil rights leaders for a White House... - NARA - 181725.jpg
| caption1 = [[Jimmy Carter]], with [[Coretta Scott King]], Martin Luther King, Sr, and Mays
| image2 = Photograph of White House Meeting with Civil Rights Leaders. June 22, 1963 - NARA - 194190 (no border).tif
| caption2 = Mays (right of [[Robert F. Kennedy]]) at the [[White House]]
}}As president he was in great demand as a public speaker. He met hundreds of national and international leaders and served as a trusted advisor to Presidents [[John F. Kennedy|Kennedy]], [[Lyndon B. Johnson|Johnson]], and [[Jimmy Carter|Carter]]. He was appointed by President [[Harry S. Truman|Truman]] to the Mid-Century White House Conference on Children and Youth. When [[Pope John XXIII]] died in 1963, President Kennedy sent Mays and his Vice President to represent the United States at the funeral in [[Rome|Rome, Italy]].<ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=http://www.mayshousemuseum.org/Page3.htm|title=The Life of Benjamin Elijah Mays|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160122070027/http://www.mayshousemuseum.org/Page3.htm|archive-date=2016-01-22|url-status=usurped}}</ref> During the Kennedy administration, southern members of the Senate blocked Mays' appointment to the [[United States Commission on Civil Rights|United States Civil Rights Commission]] by accusing him of being a [[Communism|Communist]]. Mays denied the charges.<ref name="auto3">{{Cite news|url=https://osap.williams.edu/fellowships/mmuf-intro/|title=Introduction to MMUF and Dr. Benjamin E. Mays|work=Special Academic Programs|access-date=2017-04-19|language=en-US}}</ref> His relationship with President Jimmy Carter was marked with "warmth" and "hospitality". Carter visited Mays' home in Atlanta, and Mays in turn campaigned for Carter during his [[Jimmy Carter 1976 presidential campaign|1976]] and [[1980 United States presidential election|1980]] presidential runs. Carter wrote to Mays on a monthly basis during his presidency asking him about "human rights, international affairs, and discrimination."<ref name=":7" />

=== Final years ===
Mays wanted to hire more teachers, and to pay those teachers a better salary. 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. He more than quadrupled the endowment that he inherited by the end of his 27-year tenure.<ref name="Mays, Benjamin E. 2003" /><ref name="Roper, John Herbert 2012">[[Roper, John Herbert]]. Magnificent Mays : A Biography of Benjamin Elijah Mays. Columbia, SC, USA: University of South Carolina Press, 2012. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 5 November 2014.</ref> Over Mays' twenty-seven years leading Morehouse, the enrollment increased 169%, from 238 to almost a thousand students and furthered the motivation for graduates to pursue graduate studies.<ref name=":7" />

== Connection to Martin Luther King Jr. ==
[[File:Martin Luther King - March on Washington colorized photo.jpg|thumb|[[Martin Luther King Jr.]] considered Mays his "spiritual father".]]
Mays first became associated with [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] during his time as a student at Morehouse College.<ref name="auto1"/> While King was a student from 1944 to 1948 he often went to Morehouse's chapel to hear Mays preach. 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.<ref name=":7" /> He was also a friend of Martin Luther King Jr.'s father, [[Martin Luther King Sr.]] and often participated with him in religious organizations in Atlanta. Mays dined at the King's homes from time to time and spoke with the young Martin Luther King Jr. about his career prospects and ambitions. His mother, [[Alberta Williams King]] said Mays was a "great influence on Martin Luther King Jr.," "[an] example of what kind of minister Martin could become," and "possessor of great moral principles".<ref name=":7" />

While King was only in his 20s, Mays helped him assume the responsibility of his actions in the civil rights rallies in which he participated. King needed Mays "for spiritual support as he faced the burden of being perceived as the personification of black America's hopes and dreams, it was Mays who held the job as King's consigliere over the next fourteen years as the death threats against him grew more ominous and the public battles more dangerous."<ref name="auto1"/>

After King gained national attention as a consequence of his [[Montgomery bus boycott|1955 Montgomery bus boycott]], he began to refer to Mays as his "spiritual and intellectual mentor", which enhanced the friendship they had and prompted Mays to be more involved with King's civil rights endeavors. Mays revered him as his "spiritual son".<ref name="auto1"/> Mays gave the [[benediction]] at the close of the official program of the [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom]], where King delivered his [[I Have a Dream|"I Have a Dream" speech]] in 1963.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675029520_Invocation_Lincoln-Memorial_March-on-Washington|title=HD Stock Video Footage - Dr. Benjamin E. Mays delivering benediction prayer at conclusion of "March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom"|website=www.CriticalPast.com|access-date=May 28, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.c-span.org/video/?c4481938/benjamin-mays-benediction|title=Benjamin Mays benediction|website=C-SPAN.org|language=en-US|access-date=March 7, 2016}}</ref>

=== "No man is ahead of his time" speech ===
{{Further|topic=Mays' eulogy for King|Funeral of Martin Luther King Jr.||}}{{External media|audio1=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMU9RB23Ex4 ''No Man Is Ahead of His Time - Dr. Benjamin E. Mays delivers Dr. King's Eulogy''] Mount Zion Progressive Missionary Baptist Church, &nbsp;April 9, 1968}}
The two developed a close relationship that continued until [[Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.|King's assassination]] by [[James Earl Ray]] on April 4, 1968.<ref>"King Encyclopedia," http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/kingweb/about_king/encyclopedia/mays_benjamin.htm.</ref> King and Mays promised each other that whoever outlived the other would deliver the eulogy at the other's funeral.<ref name=":3">{{cite web|url=https://www.bates.edu/150-years/months/april/benjamin-mays-king-eulogy/|title=April 1968: Benjamin Mays '20 delivers final eulogy for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. {{!}} 150 Years {{!}} Bates College|website=www.bates.edu|date=March 22, 2010 |access-date=September 20, 2018}}</ref><ref name=":8">{{cite web|url=http://www.mayshousemuseum.org|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050207062930/http://www.mayshousemuseum.org/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=February 7, 2005|title=Mays House Museum|access-date=September 20, 2018}}</ref>

On April 9, 1968, Mays delivered a eulogy that would later be known as the "'''No Man is Ahead of His Time'''" '''speech'''.<ref name=":3" /> He noted King's time in history to an estimated 150,000 mourners<ref name=":3"/> by stating in his most famous passage:

{{blockquote|If Jesus was called to preach the Gospel to the poor, [[Martin Luther]] was called to give dignity to the common man. If a prophet is one who interprets in clear and intelligible language the will of God, Martin Luther King Jr. fits that designation. If a prophet is one who does not seek popular causes to espouse, but rather the causes he thinks are right, Martin Luther qualified on that score.

No! He was not ahead of his time. No man is ahead of his time. Every man is within his star, each in his time. Each man must respond to the call of God in his lifetime and not in somebody else's time. Jesus had to respond to the call of God in the first century A.D., and not in the 20th century. He had but one life to live. He couldn't wait.<ref name=":3"/>&nbsp;}}

The speech was well received by the attendants of the funeral and the American public.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bates.edu/150-years/months/april/benjamin-mays-king-eulogy/|title=April 1968: Benjamin Mays '20 delivers final eulogy for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. {{!}} 150 Years {{!}} Bates College|website=www.Bates.edu|date=March 22, 2010 |access-date=April 20, 2017}}</ref> It was later hailed as "a masterpiece of twentieth century oratory".<ref name=":7" /> After the death of King, Mays drew controversy when his sermon at the [[Ebenezer Baptist Churches|Ebenezer Baptist Church]] urged an audience of mostly white people "not to dishonor [King's] name by trying to solve our problems through rioting in the streets. If they could turn their sorrow into hope for the future and use their outrage to invigorate a peaceful climb to the mountaintop, Martin Luther King Jr. will have died a redemptive death from which all mankind will benefit."<ref name="auto1" />

== After Morehouse, 1967–1981 ==

=== Social tours and advocacy ===
[[File:SC State House at evening.jpg|thumb|292x292px|Mays, during his social tours, was honored at the [[South Carolina State House]] in 1978.]]
Mays began teaching again, and served as a private advisor to the president of [[Michigan State University]] and went on to publish ''Disturbed About Man'', a collection of his sermons at Morehouse College. His publications described his early life in South Carolina and the racial tensions he had to overcome. During this time he began to give speeches and commencement addresses at various institutions to spread both religious and racial tolerance. He ended his social tours in the early 1980s, giving a total of 250 commencement addresses at colleges, universities, and schools. In 1978, the [[United States Department of Education|U.S. Department of Education]] granted him the Distinguished Educator Award and the [[South Carolina State House]] hung a commissioned portrait of him in its chamber.<ref name="auto4">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eo3nsXltvQ4C&q=benjamin+mays+street&pg=PA116|title=Benjamin Elijah Mays: A Pictorial Life and Times|last1=Dumas|first1=Carrie M.|last2=Hunter|first2=Julie|date=April 19, 2017|publisher=Mercer University Press|isbn=9780881460162|language=en}}</ref> These awards from South Carolina were deeply appreciated by Mays as he left the state in fear of his life and this he loved. During the social transformation of the South in the 1970s, Mays' legacy in his birthplace was solidified and he took on the title of "native son".<ref name=":7" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.morehouse.edu/about/bio-bmays.html|title=Morehouse College {{!}} Benjamin E. Mays Bio|last=College|first=Morehouse|website=www.Morehouse.edu|language=en|access-date=April 20, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.southcarolinaradionetwork.com/2011/04/25/greenwood-to-honor-education-icon-native-son-audio/|title=Greenwood to honor education icon, native son (AUDIO)|date=2011-04-25|website=South Carolina Radio Network|access-date=April 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170420145054/https://www.southcarolinaradionetwork.com/2011/04/25/greenwood-to-honor-education-icon-native-son-audio/|archive-date=April 20, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Atlanta board presidency ===
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. Members of the board argued that since the bussing was not a part of their system they did not have to create one for desegregation; however, the idea was shot down by Mays, who cited the ''[[Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education]]'' Supreme Court decision.<ref name="auto4" /> It was during this time that Mays ordered the city to create bus routes to cater to African-American neighborhoods. The board did not support the decision and asked Georgia's Attorney General, Arthur K. Bolton, for a review of the case. Bolton brought the city government together with the board and with Mays created what was known as the '''Atlanta Compromise Plan'''.<ref name="auto4"/>

His "commanding and demanding personality" was largely credited for the exponential levels of desegregation in Atlanta.<ref name=":2" /> The Atlanta Compromise Plan prompted Mays to advocate for the administration of the plan to be "colorless", that is to say, black and white students were transported on the same routes, in the same buses. This was named the "Majority to Minority" volunteer plan, better known as the "M to M" plan. The plan also allowed each student whose race was in the majority at a school to transfer to a school where they would be in the minority race; this was advantageous to the black populace of Atlanta. The program was later known as the "Volunteer Transfer Program" or VTP, and was ministered by the federal courts and the board. On July 28, 1974, Mays signed the alignment order declaring that the [[Atlanta Public Schools|Atlanta School System]] was unitary.<ref name="auto4"/>

On July 1, 1973, Mays appointed Alonzo Crim as the first African-American superintendent of schools, which was met with backlash from the other board members and city officials. He used his power and influence in Atlanta to shield Crim from the criticism and allowed him the opportunity to run the school system.<ref name="auto4" /> During the later part of his tenure he greatly expanded the jurisdiction of the board, and upon his retirement in 1981 Mays was honored by the naming of a street. Near the end of his tenure, the board voted to name a newly constructed school after Mays; [[Benjamin Elijah Mays High School|Mays High School]] was constructed on February 10, 1985, and was open to students of all races. He retired from the board in 1981.<ref name=":2" /> The Atlanta Board of Education had a rule against naming buildings after people unless they had been deceased for two years; they waived it for Mays; he visited the school frequently when it was being built.<ref name="auto4"/> He is widely credited as the most influential figure in the [[Desegregation busing|desegregation of Atlanta]], Georgia.<ref name=":2" />

== Death and legacy ==
[[File:Graves Hall, Morehouse College 2016.jpg|thumb|293x293px|A statue of Mays sits feet away from his memorial on the grounds of [[Morehouse College]].]]
Benjamin Mays died on March 28, 1984, in [[Atlanta]], Georgia. He was initially buried at [[South-View Cemetery]], but in May 1995 his body was [[Tomb|entombed]] on the campus of [[Morehouse College]] along with his wife Sadie.<ref name=ajc1995>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/53007429/at-two-resilient-schools-its-time-to/ | title=At two resilient schools, it's time to celebrate | author1=Hagans, Gail |author2=Manuel, Marlon | date=May 22, 1995 | page=B4 | newspaper=[[Atlanta Journal-Constitution]]  | url-status=live | via=[[newspapers.com]] | access-date=June 7, 2020 | quote=...the remains of Morehouse luminary Benjamin E. Mays and his wife, Sadie, were moved from Southview Cemetery late Saturday and placed in a marble memorial on the school campus Sunday. | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200608022321/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/53007429/at-two-resilient-schools-its-time-to/ | archive-date=June 8, 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mmuf.org/about/dr-benjamin-e-mays|title=Dr. Benjamin E. Mays {{!}} MMUF|website=www.mmuf.org|language=en|access-date=2018-02-21}}</ref> Morehouse College established the Benjamin E. Mays Scholarship shortly after his death.<ref name="auto2" />

[[Boston University]] professor Lawrence Carter described Mays as "one of the most significant figures in American history."<ref name=":4" /> [[Andrew Young]] said of Mays: "if there hadn't {{sic|of been}} a Benjamin Mays there would not have been a [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] He was very much a product of Dr. Mays religious thinking."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2009/10/30/benjamin-mays-model|title=The Benjamin Mays Model {{!}} Inside Higher Ed|access-date=2018-01-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.uchicago.edu/features/benjamin_mays%20/|title=Benjamin Mays found a voice for civil rights|website=The University of Chicago|language=en|access-date=2018-01-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/education/benjamin-mays-ca-1894-1984|title=Benjamin Mays (ca. 1894-1984)|website=New Georgia Encyclopedia|access-date=2018-01-12}}</ref> He was known to [[Dillard University]] president&nbsp;[[Samuel DuBois Cook]]&nbsp;as "[one of the] great architects of the civil rights movement. Not only in training individuals but in writing his books, leadership in churches, as a pastor, college president. He set the standard. And he was uncompromising."<ref name=":4" /> In 2002, scholar [[Molefi Kete Asante]] listed Benjamin Mays on his list of [[100 Greatest African Americans]].<ref>Asante, Molefi Kete (2002). ''100 Greatest African Americans: A Biographical Encyclopedia''. Amherst, New York. Prometheus Books. {{ISBN|1-57392-963-8}}.</ref>

=== Sites and honors ===
In his home state of [[South Carolina]] a portrait of Mays,<ref>Benjamin Elijah Mays 1894-1984". ''South Carolina State House Gallery Portraits''. 2023. Retrieved August 9, 2023.</ref> painted by artist [[Larry Francis Lebby]], was placed in the gallery of the South Carolina House chambers in 1981.<ref>Ronnick, Michele Valerie (2023). "Preaching with the Choir: An Easter Sermon with Dr. Benjamin E. Mays at South Carolina State University, Orangeburg, SC". ''Picturing Black History: Photographs and stories that changed the world''. Retrieved August 9, 2023.</ref> Mays was inducted into the South Carolina Hall of Fame in 1984.<ref name=":6">{{cite web|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/history/historians-miscellaneous-biographies/benjamin-mays|title=Benjamin Mays facts, information, pictures {{!}} Encyclopedia.com articles about Benjamin Mays|website=www.encyclopedia.com|language=en|access-date=April 19, 2017}}</ref> His childhood home was relocated from Epworth to [[Greenwood, SC]] and is listed as a State Historic Site by the government of South Carolina,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://discoversouthcarolina.com/products/3658|title=Benjamin Mays Historic Site|website=discoversouthcarolina.com|language=en|access-date=2017-04-19|archive-date=April 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170420145722/http://discoversouthcarolina.com/products/3658|url-status=dead}}</ref> being referred to as an "education icon" by the South Carolina Radio Network in 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.southcarolinaradionetwork.com/2011/04/25/greenwood-to-honor-education-icon-native-son-audio/|title=Greenwood to honor education icon, native son (AUDIO)|date=April 25, 2011|website=South Carolina Radio Network|access-date=April 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170420145054/https://www.southcarolinaradionetwork.com/2011/04/25/greenwood-to-honor-education-icon-native-son-audio/|archive-date=April 20, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> Upon his death Mays was designated [[Phi Beta Kappa]], [[Delta Sigma Rho]], [[Delta Theta Phi|Delta Theta Chi]], [[Omega Psi Phi]].<ref name=":6" />

Nationally, he was awarded the [[Spingarn Medal]] from the [[National Association for the Advancement of Colored People]] in 1982.<ref name="crim.education.gsu.edu">{{cite web|url=http://crim.education.gsu.edu/aboutus/dr-benjamin-e-mays/|title=Dr. Benjamin E. Mays - Alonzo A. Crim Center for Urban Educational Excellence|website=crim.education.gsu.edu|access-date=2016-03-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.naacp.org/pages/spingarn-medal-winners|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140802063355/http://www.naacp.org/pages/spingarn-medal-winners|url-status=dead|title=NAACP Spingarn Medal|archive-date=August 2, 2014}}</ref> He was elected to the [[Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture|Schomburg Honor Roll of Race Relations]] along with "only a dozen major leaders to be so honored."<ref name=":5">{{cite web|url=https://www.mmuf.org/about/dr-benjamin-e-mays|title=Dr. Benjamin E. Mays {{!}} MMUF|website=www.mmuf.org|language=en|access-date=2017-04-19}}</ref> In 2011, [[Williams College]] in [[Williamstown, Massachusetts]], introduced the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship at Williams College.<ref name="auto3" /> The [[National School Boards Association]] created the Benjamin Elijah Mays Lifetime Achievement Award for "an individual who—during his or her lifetime—has demonstrated a longstanding commitment to the educational needs of urban school children through his or her service as a local school board member."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nsba.org/services/council-urban-boards-education/awards/benjamin-elijah-mays-lifetime-achievement-award|title=Benjamin Elijah Mays Lifetime Achievement Award {{!}} National School Boards Association|website=www.NSBA.org|access-date=April 19, 2017}}</ref> Due to his stature in academia he was frequently awarded [[honorary degree]]s from universities. He was awarded 40 of them during his lifetime<ref name="auto">{{Cite news|url=http://blackhistorynow.com/benjamin-e-mays/|title=Benjamin E. Mays Biography at Black History Now|work=Black Heritage Commemorative Society|access-date=2017-04-19|language=en-US}}</ref> and as of February 2018, he has received 56 honorary degrees.<ref name=":2" />

[[Bates College]]'s highest alumni distinction is known as the Benjamin E. Mays Medal and is reserved for "the alumna or alumnus who has performed distinguished service to the larger (worldwide) community and been deemed a graduate of outstanding accomplishment." The inaugural winner was Mays himself.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bates.edu/alumni/files/2015/10/Benjamin-E.-Mays-Medal.pdf|title=Benjamin Mays Medal|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308121046/http://www.bates.edu/alumni/files/2015/10/Benjamin-E.-Mays-Medal.pdf|archive-date=2016-03-08|url-status=dead}}</ref> The college established the Benjamin E. Mays Distinguished Professorship in 1985.<ref name="auto4" />

Mays has been the subject or inspiration of [[memorial]]s, and the [[eponym]] of hundreds of buildings, schools, streets, halls, awards, grants, scholarships, fellowships, and statues. Although he through his life had been appreciative of all of them, he "[was] reported to have said he was moved most deeply when a small black church in [[Ninety Six, South Carolina]], renamed itself Mays United Methodist Church.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://blackhistorynow.com/benjamin-e-mays/|title=Benjamin E. Mays Biography at Black History Now|work=Black Heritage Commemorative Society|access-date=April 19, 2017|language=en-US}}</ref> There are numerous memorials to Mays in the United States, including:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://benmays.spps.org/|title=Benjamin E. Mays IB World School / HOME|website=BenMays.SPPS.org|access-date=May 28, 2017}}</ref><ref name=":8" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.maysacademy.com/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=160322&type=d|title=Our History|website=www.MaysAcademy.com|language=en|access-date=April 19, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://discoversouthcarolina.com/products/3658|title=Benjamin Mays Historic Site|website=DiscoverSouthCarolina.com|language=en|access-date=April 19, 2017|archive-date=April 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170420145722/http://discoversouthcarolina.com/products/3658|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=":7" />
* [[Benjamin Elijah Mays High School]], in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
* Benjamin E. Mays Drive in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
* Benjamin E. Mays Archives in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
* Benjamin E. Mays National Memorial in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
* The Statue of Benjamin E. Mays at Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. 
* Benjamin Mays Hall of [[Howard University]], in Washington, D.C., U.S.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://hueast.com/about/ | title=About Howard University East Campus }}</ref>
* [[Campus of Bates College|Benjamin Mays Center]] of Bates College, in Lewiston, Maine, U.S.
* Benjamin E. Mays International Magnet School, in St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.
* Mays House Museum, in Greenwood, South Carolina, U.S.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://civilrightstrail.com/attraction/benjamin-mays-boyhood-home/ | title=Benjamin e. Mays House Museum – US Civil Rights Trail }}</ref>
* Benjamin Mays Historic Site, in Greenwood, South Carolina, U.S.
* Dr Benjamin E. Mays Elementary School in Greenwood, South Carolina, U.S.<ref>{{cite news |title=D50 school board votes to rename Springfield after Benjamin Mays |url=https://www.indexjournal.com/news/d-school-board-votes-to-rename-springfield-after-benjamin-mays/article_c7dd9662-7be0-53e0-abea-78952512d58c.html |access-date=February 25, 2020 |work=Index-Journal |date=February 17, 2020}}</ref>
* Mays United Methodist Church, in Ninety Six, South Carolina, U.S.
* Mays Crossroads on Highway 171 in Ninety Six, South Carolina, U.S.
* Benjamin E. Mays Elementary Academy, in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
* Benjamin E. Mays High School in Pacolet, South Carolina, U.S.

=== Medal of Freedom effort ===
After Mays stepped down from the Atlanta Board of Education presidency in 1981, a petition was sent to the desk of U.S. President [[Ronald Reagan]] requesting that Mays be given the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]], but it was turned down. Georgian representative [[John Lewis]] proposed a bill in January 1993 that would commemorate Mays on a federal stamp and requested that Mays be given the Medal of Freedom [[Posthumous award|posthumously]]. The request was sent to U.S. President [[Bill Clinton]] but his time as president ended before he could address the request. A request was sent once again to U.S. President [[George W. Bush]] by Georgian representatives [[Max Cleland]] and [[Zell Miller]] which passed both houses of Congress but has yet to be signed by a U.S. president.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bates.edu/news/2001/03/01/mays-medalfreedom/|title=Presidential Medal of Freedom for Benjamin Mays '20?|date=March 1, 2001|access-date=April 19, 2017}}</ref> The petition was sent once more in 2012 to U.S. President [[Barack Obama]], yet failed to be awarded.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://patch.com/georgia/cascade/letter-to-the-editor-petition-for-mays-medal-of-freedom|title=Letter to the Editor: A Petition to Honor Dr. Benjamin E. Mays with the Presidential Medal of Freedom|date=January 18, 2012|work=Cascade, GA Patch|access-date=April 19, 2017|language=en-US}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[List of peace activists]]
* [[List of civil rights leaders]]
* [[List of Bates College people]]
* [[List of University of Chicago people]]
* [[Post–civil rights era in African-American history]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

== Further reading ==

{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last1=Jelks |first1=Randal Maurice |title=Benjamin Elijah Mays, schoolmaster of the movement : a biography |date=2012 |location=Chapel Hill |publisher=University of North Carolina |isbn=978-0-8078-6987-1}}
* {{cite book |last1=Roper |first1=John Herbert |title=The magnificent Mays : a biography of Benjamin Elijah Mays |date=2012 |publisher=The University of South Carolina Press |location=Columbia |isbn=9781611170771}}
* {{cite book |last1=Lawler |first1=Milton |title=Benjamin E. Mays : the role of character in the prolonged struggle for African American civil rights |date=2011 |publisher=The Lawler Association |location=Oxon Hill, MD |isbn=9780985451202}}
* {{cite book |last1=Rovaris |first1=Dereck Joseph |title=Mays and Morehouse : how Benjamin E. Mays developed Morehouse College, 1940-1967 |date=2005 |publisher=Beckham House |location=Silver Spring, Md. |isbn=0931761891}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==

* {{cite web |last1=Newberry |first1=Brittany |last2=Tanner |first2=Sarah |title=Born to Rebel: The Life and Legacy of Benjamin E. Mays |url=https://digitalexhibits.auctr.edu/exhibits/show/bemays/overview |website=Digital Exhibits |publisher=[[Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library]]}}
* [https://www.scstatehouse.gov/studentpage/Explore/portraits/house/BenjaminMays.shtml Image: Benjamin E. Mayes Portrait at the] [[South Carolina State House]].

{{Morehouse College presidents}}
{{Black church}}
{{Spingarn Medal}}
{{Martin Luther King Jr.}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mays, Benjamin}}
[[Category:1894 births]]
[[Category:1984 deaths]]
[[Category:Activists from Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:Baptists from South Carolina]]
[[Category:Bates College alumni]]
[[Category:People from Ninety Six, South Carolina]]
[[Category:National Baptist Convention, USA ministers]]
[[Category:University of Chicago alumni]]
[[Category:University of Chicago Divinity School alumni]]
[[Category:Presidents of Morehouse College]]
[[Category:South Carolina State University faculty]]
[[Category:Writers from South Carolina]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:American Christian pacifists]]
[[Category:People from Pinewood, South Carolina]]
[[Category:YMCA leaders]]
[[Category:School board members in Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:Activists for African-American civil rights]]
[[Category:American university and college faculty deans]]
[[Category:Baptists from Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:20th-century Baptist ministers from the United States]]
[[Category:Morehouse College faculty]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American writers]]
[[Category:African-American male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American academics]]