Benjamin Mays

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At a Glance

Martin Luther King, Jr. (center), with other civil rights supporters lock arms on as they lead the way along Constitution Avenue during the March on Washington, Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963.

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Benjamin Mays

American activist and educator

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assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Funeral rites
Former Morehouse president Benjamin Mays delivered the eulogy, and Mahalia Jackson (about whom King had once said, “a voice like hers comes along once in a millennium”) sang the gospel standard “Precious Lord.”
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Former Morehouse president Benjamin Mays delivered the eulogy, and Mahalia Jackson (about whom King had once said, “a voice like hers comes along once in a millennium”) sang the gospel standard “Precious Lord.”
Read More

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Early years
…Morehouse was the college president, Benjamin Mays, a social gospel activist whose rich oratory and progressive ideas had left an indelible imprint on King’s father. Committed to fighting racial inequality, Mays accused the African American community of complacency in the face of oppression, and he prodded the Black church into…
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…Morehouse was the college president, Benjamin Mays, a social gospel activist whose rich oratory and progressive ideas had left an indelible imprint on King’s father. Committed to fighting racial inequality, Mays accused the African American community of complacency in the face of oppression, and he prodded the Black church into…
Read More