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Morehouse College

http://www.morehouse.edu/index.php

History of Morehouse College
In 1867, two years after the Civil War ended, Augusta Institute was established in the basement of Springfield Baptist Church in Augusta, Ga. Founded in 1787, Springfield Baptist is the oldest independent African American church in the United States. The school’s primary purpose was to prepare black men for the ministry and teaching. Today, Augusta Institute is Morehouse College, located on a 66-acre campus near historic West End in Atlanta. The College enjoys an international reputation for producing leaders who have influenced national and world history.

Augusta Institute was founded by The Rev. William Jefferson White, an Augusta Baptist minister and cabinetmaker, with the support of the Rev. Richard C. Coulter, a former slave from Augusta, Ga., and The Rev. Edmund Turney, organizer of the National Theological Institute for educating freedmen in Washington, D.C. The Rev. Dr. Joseph T. Robert was appointed the Institute’s first president by William Jefferson White.

In 1879, Augusta Institute was invited by The Rev. Frank Quarles to move to the basement of Friendship Baptist Church in Atlanta and changed its name to Atlanta Baptist Seminary. Later, the Seminary moved to a four-acre lot near the site on which the Richard B. Russell Federal Building now stands in downtown Atlanta. Following Robert’s death in 1884, David Foster Estes, a professor at the Seminary, served as the institution’s first acting president.

In 1885, when Dr. Samuel T. Graves was named the second president, the institution relocated to its current site in Atlanta’s West End community. The campus, which has grown from 14 to 66 acres, encompasses a Civil War historic site, a gift of John D. Rockefeller, at which Confederate soldiers staged a determined resistance to Union forces during the famous siege of Atlanta. In 1897, Atlanta Baptist Seminary became Atlanta Baptist College, during the administration of Dr. George Sale, a Canadian who served as the third and youngest president from 1890 to 1906.

A new era, characterized by expanded academic offerings and increased physical facilities, dawned with the appointment of Dr. John Hope as the fourth president in 1906. A pioneer in the field of education, he was the College’s first African American president. Hope, a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Brown University, encouraged an intellectual climate comparable to what he had known at his alma mater and openly challenged Booker T. Washington’s view that education for African Americans should emphasize vocational and agricultural skills.

Atlanta Baptist College, already a leader in preparing African Americans for teaching and the ministry, expanded its curriculum and established the tradition of educating leaders for all areas of American life. In addition to attracting a large number of talented faculty and administrators, Hope contributed much to the institution we know today. Upon the death of the founder in 1913, Atlanta Baptist College was named Morehouse College in honor of Henry L. Morehouse, the corresponding secretary of the Northern Baptist Home Mission Society.

Dr. Samuel H. Archer became the fifth President of the College in 1931and headed the institution during the Great Depression. He gave the school its colors, maroon and white, the same as those of his alma mater, Colgate University. Archer retired for health reasons in 1937. Dr. Charles D. Hubert served as the second acting president until 1940, when Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays became the sixth president of Morehouse College.

A nationally noted educator and a mentor to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mays is recognized as the architect of Morehouse’s international reputation for excellence in scholarship, leadership, and service. During the presidency of Mays, a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Bates College and the University of Chicago, the number of faculty members grew and the percentage holding doctoral degrees increased from two to 34 out of 65 teachers. The College earned global recognition as scholars from other countries joined the faculty, an increasing number of international students enrolled, and the fellowships and scholarships for study abroad became available. Morehouse received full accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in 1957, and Mays’ 14-year effort to win a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa at Morehouse was realized in 1968. Charles E. Merrill served as chairman of the College’s board of trustees.

In 1967, Dr. Hugh M. Gloster, class of 1931, became the first alumnus to serve as seventh president of the College. Under his leadership, Morehouse strengthened its board of trustees, conducted a successful $20-million fundraising campaign, expanded the endowment to more than $29 million, and added 12 buildings to the campus, including the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel. During Gloster’s tenure, Morehouse established a dual-degree program in engineering with the Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Michigan and Boston University. Dr. Gloster founded the Morehouse School of Medicine, which became an independent institution in 1981. He appointed Dr. Louis W. Sullivan its first dean, who became its first president.

In 1987, Dr. Leroy Keith, Jr., class of 1961, was named eighth president of Morehouse. During the Keith administration, the College’s endowment increased to more than $60 million, and faculty salaries and student scholarships significantly increased. Construction of the Nabrit-Mapp-McBay science building was completed, the Thomas Kilgore Jr. Campus Center and two dormitories were built, and Hope Hall was rebuilt. In 1994, Nima A. Warfield, a member of the graduating class that year, was named a Rhodes Scholar, the first from a historically black college.

In October 1994, Dr. Wiley A. Perdue, a member of the class of 1957 and vice president for business affairs, was appointed third acting president of Morehouse. Under his leadership, national memorials were erected to honor Dr. Benjamin E. Mays and internationally noted theologian Dr. Howard W. Thurman, class of 1923. Perdue launched an initiative to upgrade the College’s academic and administrative computer information systems. He also finalized plans to build a dormitory and undertook construction of a 5,700-seat gymnasium to provide a basketball venue for the 1996 Summer Olympic Games.

On June 1, 1995, Dr. Walter E. Massey, class of 1958, was named ninth president of Morehouse. A noted physicist, former senior vice president and provost of the University of California System, and former director of the National Science Foundation, Massey has called on the Morehouse community to renew its longstanding commitment to excellence in scholarship. Under his leadership, Morehouse has embraced the challenge of preparing for the 21st century and the goal of becoming one of the nation’s best liberal arts colleges. Eighty-two percent of the faculty today has earned doctorates.

Academically, Morehouse has expanded its dual-degree master’s program in natural sciences with the Georgia Institute of Technology to include other institutions and social science majors, launched the Center for Excellence in Science, Engineering and Mathematics with a $6.7-million U.S. Department of Defense grant, and established a new African American studies program.

The Department of Economics and Business Administration has earned accreditation from the American Association of Schools and Colleges of Business (AASCB), resulting in Morehouse being one of only a handful of liberal arts colleges in the country that have both AASCB accreditation and a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. The College has also earned its re-accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).

Morehouse recently established a new Center for International Studies, which has been named for former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young, and a new Leadership Development Center, which includes diverse programs that foster leadership skills and encourage community involvement.

Under President Massey’s leadership, Morehouse has also improved its physical infrastructure. Campus enhancements include improvements to dormitories, the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel, and classroom buildings, major renovations to the Archer Hall Student Center and Chivers-Lane Dining Hall, and the construction of Davidson House-Center for Excellence, the Technology Connector, the Morehouse Leadership Center, a five hundred car parking deck, and campus bookstore.

In 1996, Morehouse launched The Campaign for a New Century, the most ambitious campaign in the history of the College. With a goal of $105 million, The Campaign for a New Century safeguards our legacy, expands our vision, and enriches our world.

As Morehouse celebrates 137 years of challenge and change, the College continues to deliver an exceptional educational experience that today meets the intellectual, moral, and social needs of students representing more than 40 states and 18 countries – a unique institution dedicated, as always, to producing outstanding men and extraordinary leaders to serve humanity with a spiritual consciousness.


Notable Alumni
Lerone Bennett Jr. '49
Executive editor of Ebony magazine

Sanford D. Bishop Jr. '68
U.S. congressman (Georgia)

Nathaniel Hawthorne Bronner '40*
Founder of Bronner Brothers Beauty Cosmetics

Calvin O. Butts III '72 ((KAPPA ALPHA PSI))
Pastor, Abyssinian Baptist Church, New York, NY; President, SUNY Old Westbury Campus

Herman Cain '67
Founder and CEO, T.H.E., Inc.
(The Hermanator Experience, a motivational program for corporations and non-profits)

Peter Chatard '56
Distinguished plastic surgeon;
Founder of the Chatard Plastic Surgery Center and the Aesteem Outpatient Surgery Center, Seattle, Washington

Don Clendenon '56
New York Mets outfielder; 1969 World Series MVP

Julius Coles '64
Professor, Political Science, Morehouse College; Director, Andrew Young Center for International Affairs, Morehouse College; former U.S. Ambassador to Senegal

Samuel Dubois Cook '48
Former President, Dillard University; former member of the National Council on Humanities

Chester A. Davenport '63
Managing Director, Georgetown Partners; Chairman, GTE Consumer Services Corp.

Robert C. Davidson, Jr. '67
Chairman and CEO, Surface Protection Industries; Member, Morehouse College Board of Trustees

Abraham Davis '61
Professor of Political Science, Morehouse College; author

Henry W. Foster Jr. '54
Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Meharry Medical School; physician; U.S. presidential advisor

Hugh M. Gloster Sr. '31
President Emeritus, Morehouse College 1967–1987

George W. Haley '49
U.S. Ambassador to Gambia, Africa; former U.S. Postal Rate Commissioner

Lt. Gen. James R. Hall '57, USA (Ret.)
Retired Lt. General U.S. Army; former Vice President for Campus Operations, Morehouse College

Earl F. Hilliard '64
U.S. Congressman (Alabama)

Donald R. Hopkins Sr. '62
Senior Consultant, Carter Presidential Center; Director, Guinea Worm Eradication Program

M. William Howard Jr. '68
Pastor, Bethany Baptist Church; (retired) President, New York Theological Seminary

Maynard H. Jackson '56*((ALPHA PHI ALPHA))
first African-American mayor of Atlanta

Samuel L. Jackson '72
Academy Award nominee, stage and film actor

Howard E. Jeter '70
U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria; former U.S. Ambassador to Botswana

Arthur E. Johnson '68
President and COO, Lockheed Martin Information Services Sector

Jeh Johnson '79
Former General Counsel, U.S. Secretary of the Air Force

Mordecai Johnson '11*
Former President, Howard University, Washington, D.C., (first African-American to serve in this position)

Robert E. Johnson '48
Former Executive Editor and Associate Publisher, JET magazine

Leroy Keith Jr. '61
Chairman of the Board, Carson Products; former President, Morehouse College

Thomas Kilgore Jr. '31
Pastor Emeritus, Second Baptist Church

Martin Luther King Jr. '48*((ALPHA PHI ALPHA))
Nobel Peace Prize laureate and civil rights leader

Shelton "Spike" Lee '79
Filmmaker and President, 40 Acres & A Mule

Michael L. Lomax '68
President, Dillard University; former President, The National Faculty

Walter E. Massey '58
President, Morehouse College; former Director, National Science Foundation; former Dean, College at Brown University; former Provost, University of California System

Richard I. McKinney '31
Former President, Storer College; Chairman, Philosophy Department, Morgan State University

Edwin C. Moses '78
Olympic gold medalist and financial consultant

Otis Moss Jr. '56 ((ALPHA PHI ALPHA))
Pastor, Olivet Institutional Baptist Church, Cleveland, Ohio; Chairman, Morehouse College Board of Trustees

James M. Nabrit '23*
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations; second African-American president of Howard University

Samuel M. Nabrit '25
Former member, Atomic Energy Commission; former president of Texas Southern University, first African American to receive the Ph.D. from Brown University

Bill G. Nunn III '76
stage and film actor

Major R. Owens '56
U.S. congressman (New York)

Roderic I. Pettigrew '72
physician and nuclear physicist

David Satcher '63 ((OMEGA PSI PHI))
Director, National Center for Primary Care, Morehouse School of Medicine; former U.S. Surgeon General

Maceo K. Sloan '71
Chairman and CEO, Sloan Financial Group Inc.

Louis W. Sullivan '54
President, Morehouse School of Medicine; former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services

Roy Terry '66 and Rudolph Terry '69
President and Executive Vice President, Terry Manufacturing Co., Atlanta, GA

Howard Thurman '23*
internationally known theologian and author

Nima A. Warfield '94
First African-American Rhodes Scholar from a historically black college or university

Charles Vert Willie '48
Distinguished Professor of Education and Urban Studies, Harvard University

* = deceased