History

 

 

SAMUEL HOWARD ARCHER

(1870 – 1941)

SCHOLAR, ORATOR, AND ATHLETE  

“MORE A STEADY STAR THAN A COMET”

Dr. Samuel H. Archer was a scholar, a distinguished orator, and the first African-American to play football at the prestigious Colgate University.  Dr. Archer became the fifth President of the Morehouse College in 1931 and headed the institution during the Great Depression.  He gave the school its colors – maroon and white – the same as those of his alma mater, Colgate University.  The college’s recreational facility, known as Archer Hall, was named after Dr. Samuel H. Archer for his committed services to the institution.  Within this facility is a gymnasium, which seats 1000 people, a swimming pool, and a game room.  The facility was used by the college’s basketball team until Forbes Arena was built.

During his thirty-six years tenure at Morehouse, Archer gained the reputation of being one of the greatest educators of all times.  Marc Moreland in his article, Samuel Howard Archer:  A Portrait of a Teacher (1949), says, “Dr. Archer had a rare talent for handling young men.  Of impressive appearance and of a wit as sharp as the fine edge of a seldom pleasure, he was to his boys, as much man as any of them and a scholar who could at once amuse and instruct.  Here indeed was a teacher who won young men and influenced them for good.”

Birthplace: Chesterfield, Virginia

Education: 

• Peabody Public Schools, Petersburg, Virginia

• Wayland Normal Academy, Washington, D. C.

• Colgate University, Hamilton, New York

Honorary Degrees: 

• Morehouse College, 1923 – M. A.

• Colgate University, 1932 – Doctor of Divinity

Employment: 

Teacher, Virginia Public Schools

Teacher, Roger Williams University, Nashville, Tennessee

Professor, Football Coach, Dean, and Vice-President, Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia

Fifth President , Morehouse College

Religious Affiliation:  Friendship Baptist Church

Civil Service:  Omega Psi Phi Fraternity

Dr. Samuel H. Archer’s greatest contribution lies in the influence he had on the lives of those who were fortunate enough to have known him.

This man forgot himself into immortality.

 

CHARLES LINCOLN HARPER

(1877 –1955)

INSPIRING PRINCIPAL AND ACTIVIST 

“A MAN WITH A VISION”

Before there was Washington High School, there was no public education beyond the sixth grade for African-Americans in Atlanta.  By the time C. L. Harper retired in 1942, B.T. Washington was considered the largest Black high school in America, with an enrollment of 4,200 students.

Charles Lincoln Harper believed that America’s survival depended upon a thorough education of the youth of this country without regard to race, color, or creed. He had a deep understanding of young people and was committed to their highest development.

Birthplace:  Hancock City, Georgia

Education:   

• Sparta Public Schools, Sparta, Georgia
• Morris Brown College, Atlanta, Georgia

Employment:       

• Clerk for the United States Post Office in Atlanta, Georgia
• Instructor, Morris Brown College
• First Principal, Young Street Night School
• First Principal, Booker T. Washington High School

Religious Affiliation: Sunday School Superintendent, Big Bethel A.M.E. Church

Civil Service:            

• President and Executive Secretary, Georgia Teachers and Education Association (GTEA)
• State Chapter Vice President and Atlanta Chapter President, NAACP

Education in the State of Georgia is better because of Charles Lincoln Harper.  At his death, then Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall said:  “There have been others devoted to causes; however, Professor Harper stood out head and shoulders above many others because of his complete lack of fear of physical and economic repercussions.”

There is nothing more thrilling than to lead youth – disadvantaged youth -- to do battle against great odds:  nothing more rewarding than to see a child, whose soul you have touched, rise from the depths and make his way to the pinnacle, bearing a torch that lights the way for others who move from the shadows to the heights, and develop into stalwart characters despite conflict.