Hope was one of five children born to mixed race parents. His father, James Hope, was a native Scotsman who moved to the U.S. in 1817 and eventually ended up in Augusta, Georgia. Hope's mother, Fanny Butts, was a black woman. The two probably never married since interracial marriage was illegal in most places at the time. Hope's father died when John was eight years old. At age 10, John went to work for a lawyer earning $4.00 per month. At age 13 after completing 8th grade, he left school and went to work for a black man who owned a restaurant business in Augusta.

Rev. John Dart, a local pastor, challenged John Hope to return to school. In 1886, Hope entered Worcester Academy in Massachusetts. In 1890, he entered Brown University in Rhode Island where he focused on studying philosophy and graduated with honors in June of 1894. Hope then accepted a teaching job at Roger Williams University in Nashville, TN, where he taught natural sciences, Greek, and Latin. He married Lugenia Burns, whom he had met during his college years, in December of 1897.

In the spring of 1898 John Hope accepted a position at Atlanta Baptist College. He became close friends with W.E.B. Du Bois and other black academic professors. Hope worked along with Du Bois for the right to a liberal, not just vocational, education for black people. In 1906, Hope became acting President of Atlanta Baptist College, and a year later was named as the first black President of a Baptist School. It was during this time period that he participated in the Niagara Movement as well.

Hope was able to visit his father's homeland of Langholm, Scotland and other parts of Europe in 1912. The next year Atlanta Baptist College was renamed Morehouse College. Hope, along with his assistants, brought innovative curriculum to the school. In 1918, Hope once again went to Europe; this time as a representative of the YMCA to help improve conditions for black soldiers in WWI.

In 1929, Atlanta's black institutions joined together to form the Atlanta University System. Hope was appointed as the system's President. The following year John Hope received the Harmon Award for distinguished achievement in education. Hope died in Atlanta on February 19, 1936 of pneumonia.

Other achievements of note:
President of National Association of Teachers in Colored Schools
Advisory Board Member of NAACP
Executive Committee Member of National Urban League
Founder and President of the Commission on Interracial Cooperation
Member of Phi Beta Kappa

This essay was submitted by Kathryn Sansbury, a social studies and history teacher at Wake Forest-Rolesville High School in North Carolina.

1. What other famous African Americans attended Atlanta Baptist College, later known as Morehouse College? List several and their accomplishments in a short essay. Go to http://www.morehouse.edu/morehouselegacy/index.html for more information about Morehouse's alumni. For all of the Black colleges in the United States, go to the www.jimcrowhistory.org geography section under Black Colleges.



2. John Hope was the founder of the Niagara Movement. What was it, how and why did he start it, and how did it help in the struggle for equality? Outline your answer in a short essay. Go to http://blackhistory.eb.com/micro/423/99.html for more on the Niagara Movement.



3. In 1918, Hope went to Europe as a representative of the YMCA to work for better conditions for black soldiers fighting in World War I. What role did black soldiers play in WWI? How did the YMCA fit into that? Write your response in a short essay. The link http://www.asymca.org/history.htm will give you a source for information about the YMCA's history in wars.