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Chapter V Atlanta, 1911-1914 How fortuitousis the life of man! A simple contact may be decisive in determining one's career. It is highly improbable that I would have spent thirty years at Morehouse (three as teacher and twenty-seven as president) had it not been for that summer day in 1921 when John Hope, then president of Morehouse College, came to the library of the University of Chicago and invited me to teach college mathematics and high school algebra in his college. John Hope tempted me by offering me the *4 lucrative" salary of $1,200 for a teaching year of eight months, to begin in September, 1921. However, too much was involved for me to grab his offer. I no longer planned to do graduate work in mathematics, for Ellen and I had decided that it was in the field of religion that I wouldseek my career. Even ifgoing to Morehouse did not mean changing my ultimate course, it certainly necessitated delay in my pursuit of a doctorate in some phase of religion or theology. Wisely, Mr. Hope did not ask for an immediate reply but suggested that he would see me after I had had time to think. This was my first job offer since my graduation from Bates. The more I thought about that $1,200, the bigger it looked: 10.7 times larger than the $112 I would havereceived had I accepted a teaching position in Greenwood County after finishing high school in 1916; and fourteen times as much as the forty cents a day I had made chopping cotton from sun to sun. It was not difficult to find other reasons why I should accept President Hope's offer. I had no money and it was not clear to me how I was going to be able to continue my work at the University of Chicago. Moreover, if I went to Atlanta I would be closer to my wife who was teaching at Morris College in Sumter, South Carolina. Our continued separation was difficult but was an economic necessity. From Atlanta I would be able to visit her once or twice a month. Finally, the decision was made: I would go to Morehouse. The decision to go to Morehouse created the immediate problem of where to get the money. I needed at least eighty dollars. I had to buy a ticket 66 A T L A N T A , 1 9 2 1 - 1 9 2 4 to Atlanta; I needed a few items of clothing; and I wished to buy a diamond ring. When we had married the year before, I had been unable to buy Ellen a ring. Eighty dollars would buy a ticket to Atlanta, some cheap articles of clothing, and a diamond ring. I had seen "the" ring in a pawnshop window for $37and I wanted very much to get it for Ellen. For three days I walked the streets of Chicago trying to find somebody who would lend me eighty dollars. No fairy godmother appeared to grant my three wishes; no good Samaritan seemed about to haul me from my ditch! A friend suggested that I wire Mr. Hope for railroad fare to Atlanta, but I firmly rejected the idea for I had no intention of going to Morehouse under obligation to my employer. Rather than borrow money from Morehouse or the president of the college, I would have walked to Atlanta! Finally a South Carolina lawyer named Williams who practiced in Chicago came to my rescue by signing a note for me. It was due in ninety days and I was only too happy to pay when I got my second salary check; but as grateful as I was to the lender for trusting me, I resolved never again to find myself in this position. I had not forgotten my Orangeburg difficulty in borrowing seventeen dollars. I have never broken my vow. With my ticket, a few clothes, and my ring for Ellen, I took leave for Atlanta. By the time this book is published, I shall have lived in Atlanta thirty-nine years, more than half my life. I made history at Morehouse by teaching the first course in calculus ever to be given there. The times do change! Never during my twenty-seven years as president of Morehouse did I even consider hiring anyone to teach mathematics unless he had an M.A.—preferably a Ph.D. in that field. Going to Atlanta meant entering...

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