![Transcription Center logo](/themes/custom/tc_theme/assets/image/logo.png)
This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.
Honorary Degrees at commencement at Morehouse College were given to Leon Howard Sullivan, George Springer Craft, John Harold Johnson, Samuel Du Bois Cook [[image - black and white photograph of Leon Howard Sullivan along with two gentlemen]] CITATION TO LEON HOWARD SULLIVAN by Hugh M. Gloster, President of Morehouse College LEON HOWARD SULLIVAN: You were born in Charleston, West Virginia, and you were education at West Virginia State College, where you received the B.A. degree; at Columbia University, where you received the M.A. degree; and at Union Theological Seminary. After you became pastor of the Zion Baptist Church in Philadelphia in 1950, you increased the membership from 600 to 5,000 and developed an institution that became outstanding for its services to the community through the operation of a Day Care Center, a Federal Credit Union, a Community Center, an Employment Agency, Adult Education Classes, Athletic Teams, Choral Groups, and a Family Counseling Service. You are the founder of Zion Investment Associates, which derived from the membership of Zion Baptist Church and built Zion Gardens, a $1,000,000 apartment complex which was the first of its kind in the East, and Progress Plaza, a $1,700,000 shopping center which is the largest facility of its kind owned and operated by black people in America. You are also the founder of Progress Aerospace Enterprises, Inc., the first large black owned and operated industrial development to involve Afro-Americans in the aerospace industry. In 1964 you founded the Opportunities Industrialization Center, which sponsors training and retraining for useful jobs. The first program of its kind in this country, OIC now operates in more than 100 cities in the United States and foreign countries and has prepared more than 75,000 men and women for better employment. You are also the founder and chairman of the Board of the National Progress Association for Economic Development, an organization which is doing economic planning and shopping center development, giving technical assistance to minority businesses, and promoting entrepreneurial training centers and urban planning in forty American cities. Because of your ability and achievements, you have been elected to the Boards of Directors of General Motors, the Girard Bank, and the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society; you have received the following awards: the Outstanding Young Man of Philadelphia and One of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of America in 1955, the Good Citizenship Award by the City of Philadelphia in 1956, the Silver Beaver Award by the Boy Scouts of America in 1957, the Outstanding Alumnus Award by West Virginia State College in 1958, the Russwurm Award by the National Publishers Association and the award by Life Magazine as one of the 100 Outstanding Young Adults in the United States in 1963, the Award from the Philadelphia Fellowship Commission in 1964, the Bok Award to the Outstanding Philadelphia Citizen in 1966, the William Penn Award and the International Employment Services Award in 1967, the Edwin T. Dahlberg Peace Award in 1968, the Freedom Foundation American Exemplar Medal in 1969, the United States Civil Service Award in 1970, and the Spingarn Award by the NAACP, the Lovejoy Award by the Elks, and the Silver Buffalo Award by the Boy Scouts of America in 1971; and you have received honorary degrees from the following colleges and universities: Beaver College, Boston University, Bowdoin College, Central State University, Dartmouth College, Delaware State College, Denison University, Gannon College, Judson College, Lincoln University, Morris Harvey College, Princeton University, Swarthmore College, Temple University, the University of Pennsylvania, Villanova University, Virginia Union University, and West Virginia State College. Morehouse College is proud to join the institutions that have honored you. Therefore, upon the recommendation of the Faculty and by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Board of Trustees of Morehouse College, I am pleased to confer upon you the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity with all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities thereunto appertaining. [[image - black and white photograph of George Springer Craft receiving citation]] CITATION TO GEORGE SPRINGER CRAFT by Hugh M. Gloster, President of Morehouse College GEORGE SPRINGER CRAFT: You were born in Riverside, Illinois, and you obtained your higher education at Emory University, where you received the B.S. degree and entered Phi Beta Kappa; at Oxford University, where you received the B.A. degree and were a Rhodes Scholar; and at the Business School of Harvard University. As a professional man, you have rendered outstanding service in education and banking. At Emory University you have served as Dean of the School of Business Administration; and at the Trust Company of Georgia you have worked upward through the ranks from Statistician to Assistant Vice President to Vice President to Senior Vice President to President to your present position as Chairman of the Board. During World War II you served in the United States Navy Reserve, rising from the rank of Lieutenant to that of Lieutenant Commander. Because of your leadership skills and business acumen, you have elected to serve as a Director of the Trust Company of Georgia, the Trust Company of Georgia Associates, the Genuine Parts Company, the Georgia Power Company, the Life Insurance Company of Georgia, the Whitehead Realty Company, the Allied Bank International, the Retail Credit Company, the Travelers Aid Society of Atlanta, the Central Atlanta Progress, and the Metropolitan Foundation of Atlanta. You are a former Director of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and the Atlanta Community Chest, which you have also served as Treasurer and Campaign Co-Chairman. You are a Trustee of the American Assembly, the Committee for Economic Development, Emory University, Morehouse College, and Saint Joseph's Infirmary. Your social affiliations are equally as impressive. It would have been easy for you to devote all your time and talents to the heavy demands of banking and business, but you have branched out to play a leading role in civic activities and educational institutions. One of the best things that has happened to Morehouse College is that you have come her way to serve as a Trustee, as a Member of the Executive Committee of the Board, and as the Chairman of the Steering Committee of our successful $1,500,00 Atlanta campaign, the first capital funds drive ever undertaken by a predominantly black college in this city. Because of your achievements as a business man, as a community leader, as a friend of higher education, I am pleased to honor you today. Therefore, the recommendation of the Faculty and by virtue of the authority vested in me [[and]] the Board of Trustees of Morehouse College, I hereby confer upon you the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws, with all the rights, privileges and responsibilities thereunto appertaining. [[boxed]] JOIN YOUR MOREHOUSE NATIONAL ALUMNI CLUB [[/boxed]] 186