Mr. Samuel P. Long, Jr., a proud US Army veteranof New Jersey, classmate of Martin Luther King, Jr., visited the Mays Historic Site for the first time in April 2011just before it officially opened on Apr 26, 2011. Mr. Long was married by Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1948 after graduating with the civil rights giant in the famous Morehouse Class of 1948. He married Ms. Ruth Bussey onAugust 23, 1948. Up in his nineties, Mr. Long was ecstatic and overjoyed about being at the site dedicated to his revered and legendary college president, and he spent several hours going through the museum soaking up every photo and word narrative about Dr. Mays. He toldseveral storiesof his relationship with Martin Luther King, Jr., but the most memorable one was the story of how he was frantic to find a replacement official to marry him when the original official cancelled due to an emergency. Mr. Long reached out to Martin Luther King, Jr. who had already been ordained as a minister to marry him, and it was the source of much talk over the years at Mr.Long's family get togethers! On November 4, 2017, Mr. Long at age 95 again visited the Mays Site to take in the unveiling of the beautiful bronze statue of Dr. Benjamin E. Mays. We are sad to say that Mr. Long passed away on October 28, 2018 but are so happy that he was able to visit the site twice during his long and memorable life.
