the Benjamin E. Mays Distinguished Professorship in 1985. Mays has been the subject or inspiration of memorials, and the eponym of hundreds of buildings, schools, streets, halls, awards, grants, scholarships, fellowships, and statues. Although he through his life had been appreciative of all of them, he "[was] reported to have said he was moved most deeply when a small black church in Ninety Six, South Carolina, renamed itself Mays United Methodist Church. There are numerous memorials to Mays in the United States, including: Benjamin Elijah Mays High School, in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Benjamin E. Mays Drive in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Benjamin E. Mays Archives in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Benjamin E. Mays National Memorial in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. The Statue of Benjamin E. Mays at Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Benjamin Mays Hall of Howard University, in Washington, D.C., U.S. Benjamin Mays Center of Bates College, in Lewiston, Maine, U.S. Benjamin E. Mays International Magnet School, in St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S. Mays House Museum, in Greenwood, South Carolina, U.S. Benjamin Mays Historic Site, in Greenwood, South Carolina, U.S. Dr Benjamin E. Mays Elementary School in Greenwood, South Carolina, U.S. Mays United Methodist Church, in Ninety Six, South Carolina, U.S. Mays Crossroads on Highway 171 in Ninety Six, South Carolina, U.S. Benjamin E. Mays Elementary Academy, in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. Benjamin E. Mays High School in Pacolet, South Carolina, U.S. Medal of Freedom effort After Mays stepped down from the Atlanta Board of Education presidency in 1981, a petition was sent to the desk of U.S. President Ronald Reagan requesting that Mays be given the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but it was turned down. Georgian representative John Lewis proposed a bill in January 1993 that would commemorate Mays on a federal stamp and requested that Mays be given the Medal of Freedom posthumously. The request was sent to U.S. President Bill Clinton but his time as president ended before he could address the request. A request was sent once again to U.S. President George W. Bush by Georgian representatives Max Cleland and Zell Miller which passed both houses of Congress but has yet to be signed by a U.S. president. The petition was sent once more in 2012 to U.S. President Barack Obama, yet failed to be awarded. See also List of peace activists List of civil rights leaders List of Bates College people List of University of Chicago people Post–civil rights