Called the “schoolmaster of the civil rights movement,” Benjamin Elijah Mays (1895–1984) was born in Epworth, South Carolina, the youngest of eight children and the son of formerly enslaved parents.

An ordained Baptist minister, educator, and passionate voice for justice, Mays said, “It isn’t a calamity to die with dreams unfulfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream.”

He met with Mahatma Gandhi in India, organized for the National Urban League, and became a powerful advocate of nonviolence, education, and the dignity of all people.

In 1940, Mays became president of Morehouse College, transforming it into an intellectual beacon. His influence extended far beyond the classroom. His most celebrated student: Martin Luther King Jr., who called him a lifelong mentor.

“Being requested to give the eulogy at the funeral of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is like asking one to eulogize his deceased son,” Mays reflected. “So close and so precious was he to me.”

He believed in divine purpose: “Whatever you do, do it so well that people looking on will feel that the task was reserved especially for you by God himself.”