John Hope

Who was John Hope?

John Hope, born in Augusta, Georgia, was an African-American educator and political activist, the first African-descended president of both Morehouse College in 1906 and of Atlanta University in 1929, where he worked to develop graduate programs. Both were historically black colleges.

Determined to finish his education after having had to leave school to help support his family after his father's death, Hope went North: graduating from Worcester Academy and Brown University. He returned to the South to teach, and in 1906 became the first African-American president of Atlanta Baptist College. He served as president until his death in 1936. After the college's affiliation with Atlanta University, Hope was selected in 1929 as the university's first African-American president; he worked to develop that institution's graduate programs to ensure higher education for blacks.

Hope was active in national civil rights organizations, including the Niagara Movement, the succeeding National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and the Southern based Commission on Interracial Cooperation.