SC S0998

Requests the South Carolina Department of Transportation name a portion of South Main Street in McCormick County the "Dr. Benjamin E. Mays Memorial Highway," spanning from the Georgia Pacific Facility to the Old Nantex Building at Clayton Street

Dr. Benjamin E. Mays (1894-1984) was born in Epworth, Greenwood County, and attended school in nearby McCormick before graduating as valedictorian from South Carolina State College in 1916

Served as president of Morehouse College in Atlanta for over 27 years beginning in 1940, mentoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and influencing his nonviolent civil disobedience philosophy

Advised multiple U.S. presidents including Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Carter, and represented the United States at the Peace Corps, United Nations, and UNESCO

Directs copies of the resolution be sent to the Department of Transportation, McCormick Mayor Roy Smith Jr., Mims Foundation Executive Officer Dr. James A. Franklin Sr., and Rev. Keith Gordon of Bethany Missionary Baptist Church