In 1953, under the leadership of then-Superintendent Gettys D. Broome, the Benjamin E. Mays Consolidated School was built.  The Cowpens and Pacolet school districts had been consolidated and the district constructed two new African American schools.  Ralph J. Bunche Elementary served Cowpens African American children in grades 1-6. The Benjamin E. Mays Consolidated School served African American elementary students in Pacolet, grades 1-6, and all African American students in the district in grades 7-12.   

After the closing of the Benjamin E. Mays Consolidated School in 1970, it became Pacolet Middle School, serving grades 4-8.  In 1976, it retained the name of Pacolet Middle School but served grades 3-6.  Major renovations took place in 1983 and the school reopened its doors that fall as Pacolet Junior High School, serving grades 7-9.  In 1993, the District moved to the middle school concept, serving grades 6-8.

During the transition to the middle school concept, the school was renamed Middle School of Pacolet.  In 1998, the Benjamin E. Mays Renaming Committee, made up of members of the Benjamin E. Mays Alumni Association and chaired by Vivian Teamer, met with Dr. Jim Ray, Board Chairperson Larry Hodge and board member Sterling Farr, to formerly request the name of Middle School of Pacolet be returned to its original name of Benjamin E. Mays Middle School.

Mrs. Teamer noted in their request, “Our school claimed its rightful place in history through academics and sports.  We have graduates who are successful in every aspect of education and other professional careers, such as physicians, nurses, lawyers, teachers, ministers, and the list goes on.  As a community, we feel that the restoration of the name B. E. Mays will help to enlighten, influence and restore dignity to our young, black students who so desperately need a positive role model after which they can pattern their lives.”

After much deliberation with the Spartanburg School District Three Board of Trustees and Administration, the decision was made to maintain the name Middle School of Pacolet, but to add Original Benjamin E. Mays School to the front of the building.  A portrait of Dr. Mays was commissioned and now hangs in the entryway of the school.

A former dean at Howard University and President of Morehouse College for 27 years, Dr. Mays was an internationally recognized leader, minister, humanitarian, educator, philosopher and writer.  In 1984, he was inducted into the South Carolina Hall of Fame.

Added to his many honors and recognitions were schools named to memorialize his legacy.  Research shows that Benjamin E. Mays Consolidated School in Pacolet was the first public school in the nation named in his honor.  It is also the first of five public schools in the United States so named.  Below is a listing of those schools and the years they were founded.

• Benjamin E. Mays Consolidated School in Pacolet, South Carolina, U.S.- Founded 1953

• Benjamin E. Mays Elementary Academy, in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.- Founded 1963

• Benjamin E. Mays International Magnet School, in St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.- Founded 1977

• Benjamin E. Mays High School, in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.- Founded 1981

• Benjamin E. Mays Preparatory School, Charter School in New Orleans, Louisiana- Founded 2009

B.E. Mays Distinguished Alumni

Resolution for Original Benjamin E. Mays Consolidated School

This resolution verifies District Three's board members believe it is the first school named after Dr. Benjamin E. Mays in the nation.

Resolution for Original Benjamin E. Mays Consolidated School (.rtf)

This resolution verifies District Three's board members believe it is the first school named after Dr. Benjamin E. Mays in the nation.

The Legacy of Upstate Native, Dr. Benjamin E. Mays

Civil Rights Icon, Dr. Benjamin E. Mays was born in 1894 in the Epworth Community by ninety six in Greenwood County.

Benjamin Mays Historic Site

The Benjamin E. Mays Historical Preservation Site contains Dr. Mays' birth home which was removed from its original location in Epworth, in southeast Greenwood County, and furnished with circa 1900 furniture.

Benjamin E. Mays Morehouse Biography

Dr. Mays became president of Morehouse College in 1940 and launched a 27-year tenure that shepherded the institution into international prominence. He upgraded the faculty, secured a Phi Beta Kappa chapter and sustained enrollment during wartime America. His most noted forum was Tuesday morning Chapel in historic Sale Hall, where he challenged and inspired the students to excellence in scholarship and in life itself. One of Morehouse's most distinguished graduates, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. '48, remembers Dr. Mays as his "spiritual mentor" and "intellectual father."

Dr. Mays history as Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "spiritual mentor"

Described by Martin Luther King, Jr., as his “spiritual mentor,” Benjamin Mays was a distinguished Atlanta educator who served as president of Morehouse College from 1940 to 1967 (Scott King, 249). While King was a student at Morehouse, the two men developed a relationship that continued until King’s death in 1968.

Born to Rebel: The Life and Legacy of Dr. Benjamin E. Mays

Born to Rebel explores the life and legacy of Benjamin E. Mays. It provides an overview of his work at Morehouse College and the Atlanta Board of Education. The exhibit showcases his legacy as the president of Morehouse College and his work to desegregate the Atlanta Public Schools.