Benjamin Elijah Mays was born and reared in Greenwood's Epworth Community, the son of former slaves. He served as president of Morehouse College from 1940 to 1967, was a mentor and eulogist for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., advised Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Carter, and was a Baptist minister, theologian, civil rights pioneer, author, legendary orator, and member of Omega Psi Phi Gamma Chapter in 1919.