Dr. Benjamin E. Mays honored

Jet, March 22, 2004

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Caption: DR. BENJAMIN E. MAYS HONORED: Entertainer Bill Cosby, recently named the 2004 Ford Freedom Award Scholar, assists Christy Coleman, president and CEO of the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History (r), during the unveiling of a plaque in honor of the late educator and civil rights activist Benjamin Elijah Mays at a black-tie gala at the museum in Detroit. Mays' niece, Bernice Mays Perkins, looks on. Mays, the 2004 Ford Freedom Award honoree, was a leading educator in the U.S. who served as president of Morehouse College for over 20 years. The plaque will be added to the Ring of Genealogy in the Ford Freedom Rotunda in the lobby of the museum. The Freedom Award, created in 1999, is given posthumously to an individual who dedicated his or her life to improving the Black community and the world in general. The Ford Freedom Award Scholar honors a living individual who has excelled in a particular field.