Newspaper Page Text
The Campus Mirror^
Published during the College Year by the Students of Spelman College, Atlanta, Georgia
VOLUME XII MARCH 1 5, 1 936 No. 6
Dr. John Hope
Dr. John Hope, president of Atlan
ta University since 1929 and for twen
ty-five years the head of Morehouse
College, died Thursday, February 20,
after an illness of less than a week.
He was in his sixty-eighth year.
President Hope, long recognized as
one of the foremost leaders of the
Negro race and one of its outstanding
educators, had devoted his entire life
since graduation from Brown Univer-
>itv in 1894 to the education of Negro
youth. First as a teacher at Roger
Williams University at Nashville, Ten
nessee, and later at the Atlanta Bap
tist College, now Morehouse College, he
proved himself a brilliant and inspir
ing teacher. In 190(1 he succeeded Dr.
George Sale as president of Atlanta
Baptist College, becoming the first
person of his race to head this pioneer
institution. For 25 years he worked
to build up in Atlanta an institution
of high rank for Negro men, and today
Morehouse College stands as one of
the highest ranking schools for colored
youth largely as the result of his ef
forts. In 1929 when Atlanta Univer
sity, Morehouse College, and Spelman
College were affiliated in a University
system, Dr. Hope was unanimously
chosen to be its first head, and has
served since in that capacity.
Dr. Hope was born in Augusta,
Georgia, on June 3, 1868. lie secured
his early education in Augusta largely
through his own efforts, and through
his energy and ambition to complete
his training he went to Worcester
Academy, Worcester, Massachusetts, in
1886. Upon his graduation from the
academy, he entered Brown University,
from which he received his degree of
bachelor of arts in 1894. He immedi
ately entered the service of the Ameri
can Baptist Home Mission Society and
was sent to Roger Williams University.
After two years he was transferred to
Atlanta Baptist College.
Five universities in the United
States and Canada honored President
Hope with degrees. In 1907 Brown
University, his alma mater, conferred
un him the degree of A.M. and again
in 1935 honored him with the degree
of Doctor of Laws. Howard Univer
sity, Buckneli University, McMaster
I niversity, and Bates College each
conferred on him the degree of Doctor
of Laws for his outstanding work in
the field of education and the better
ment of interracial relations.
Dr. John Hope
Greater love hath no man . . .
President Hope held official con
nection with all branches of the Young
Men’s Christian Association from the
local association to the World Com
mittee. He served as an official on the
board of the Atlanta Y. M. C. A., the
National Council of the Y. M. C. A.,
the International Committee, and the
World Committee of the Y. M. C. A.
During the World War he served as
a special secretary of the Y. M. C. A.
in France, spending more than a year
abroad supervising the welfare of col
ored soldiers in France.
Throughout his entire life, Dr. Hope
took an active part in promoting bet
ter relations between the races. In
recognition of his great interest and
widespread influence, he was elected
in 1932 president of the Commission
on Interracial Cooperation, and at the
time of his death was a member of
the executive committee and the board
of directors of the Commission, of
which he was honorary president. He
was a member of the board of direc
tors of the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People
and of the National Urban League, and
honorary chairman of the board of the
Atlanta Urban League. He was active
in the organization and served as pres
ident of the Georgia State Council for
Work Among Negro Boys. In 192,8 In*
was chosen as a delegate to the Inter
national Missionary Council which met
in Jerusalem and was one of the speak
ers at this great international meeting.
So Deep The Sleep
(To Dr. John Hope)
Ruby LeClesta Flanagan, ’37
So deep
The sleep
He does not hear
The bell’s tumult — the campus clear;
Nor gentle tread of roses near.
How he did love the lanes that lead
To massive hall where Learning’s seed
Was sown for human kind in need.
Low he lies
Near spires that rise
In all their glory to the skies
Proclaiming praise that never dies.
So deep
The sleep—
And yet his life
Goes on; on countless souls descends
Its power; on lives unborn its radiance
falls.
For his services to education, Dr.
Hope was widely honored. In 1929 he
received the Harmon Award in Educa
tion for his distinguished service in
furthering the education of the Negro
race. He was a member of the Com
mittee of One Hundred of the Ameri
can Association for Adult Education
and president of the Association for
the Study of Negro Life and History.
Although Dr. Hope’s interests were
many-sided and varied, his first and
greatest interest was in the education
of Negro youth, and into the upbuild
ing of Morehouse College and later of
Atlanta University, he threw all his
strength, skill, and enthusiasm.
On July 1, 1929, Dr. Hope succeeded
Dr. Myron W. Adams as president of
Atlanta University. In April of that
year Atlanta University, Morehouse
College for men and Spelman College
for women, all located in the west side
of Atlanta, had agreed to affiliate.
President Hope was unanimously
chosen to lead in this movement to
bring together the work of these three
institutions. As a matter of fact, the
affiliation was agreed to only on con
dition that Dr. Hope would serve as
president. Under his leadership At
lanta University was developed as a
graduate school, the only graduate in
stitution in the South open to Negro
students wherein are offered courses
leading to the master's degree. A plan
uf cooperation has been successfully
worked out among tin? three affiliated
institutions which has become an ob-
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