Rev. James Bond (1863-1929), Educator and Social Activist
Worked to end racial violence and discrimination as the first Kentucky Director of Commission on Interracial Cooperation. Born a slave in Whitley County and was freed at the age of two. At age 16 he brought a cow to Berea College to pay tuition. After finishing Berea, he earned a divinity degree from Oberlin. He went on to become Financial Agent of Lincoln Institute (1907 - 1914), then Camp Taylor YMCA Service Director during World War I. Bond was the first of four generations of family leaders in the struggle for equality. Descendants include educator, Horace Mann Bond, and former Georgia legislator, Julian Bond and Community Activist Michael Bond.
Horace Mann Bond (1904-1972), Educator and Social Activist
One of the most respected and influential black educators and intellectuals of the mid-20th century, Horace Mann Bond was at the forefront of black education and civil rights throughout his career - as teacher and key administrator at Fisk University, Dillard University, Fort Valley State College (president, 1939 - 1945), Lincoln University (president, 1945 - 1957), and Atlanta University, where he was dean of the School of Education, 1957 - 1966. Much of Bond's research emphasized the social, economic, and geographic factors influencing academic achievement. pioneered many projects, including his critiques of intelligence and aptitude testing, his research on black doctorates, and his field work for the Julius Rosenwald Fund.
Julian Bond (1940 - ) Educator , Legislator and Civil Rights Activist
From his student days to his current Chairmanship of the NationalAssociation for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Julian Bond has been an active participant in the movements for civil rights, economic justice. As an activist who has faced jail for his convictions, as a veteran of more than 20 years service in the Georgia General Assembly, as a university professor, and as a writer, he has been on the cutting edge of social change since 1960.
He was a founder, in 1960, while a student at Morehouse College, of the Atlanta student sit-in and anti-segregation organization, and of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). As SNCC's Communications Director, Bond was active in protests and registration campaigns throughout the South.
Elected in 1965 to the Georgia House of Representatives, Bond was prevented from taking his seat by members who objected to his opposition to the Vietnam War. He was re-elected to his own vacant seat and un-seated again, and seated only after a third election and a unanimous decision of the United States Supreme Court.
He was co-chair of a challenge delegation from Georgia to the 1968 Democratic Convention. The challengers were successful in unseating Georgia's regular Democrats, and Bond was nominated for Vice-President, but had to decline because he was too young.
In the Georgia Senate, Bond became the first black chair of the Fulton County Delegation, the largest and most diverse in the upper house, and chair of the Consumer Affairs Committee. During his legislative tenure, he was sponsor or co-sponsor of more than 60 bills which became law.
He is a commentator on America's Black Forum, the oldest black-owned show in television syndication. His poetry and articles have appeared in numerous publications. He has narrated numerous documentaries, including the Academy Award winning "A Time For Justice" and the prize-winning and critically acclaimed series "Eyes On The Prize."
He has served since 1998 as Chairman of the Board of the NAACP, the oldest and largest civil rights organization in the United States.
The holder of twenty-one honorary degrees, he is a Distinguished Professor at American University in Washington, DC, and a Professor in history at the University of Virginia.
Max Bond - World Class Architect and Scholar
Max Bond, Jr. is recognized internationally as one of the United States’ leading architects and educators. Mr. Bond won early recognition for the design of the Bolgatanga Library in Ghana, and has followed that with such projects as the Birmingham Civil Rights Museum, The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, and major research laboratories at Harvard, Columbia and Northwestern Universities. In addition to recognition for award-winning architecture, Mr. Bond has established a reputation as a designer who works closely with his clients and their local communities to understand their needs and project goals. He is currently lead architect for the World Trade Center memorial project.
Gilbert Bond - Educator and Scholar
Professor Bond joined the Yale University Divinity School faculty in 1996 from Emory University, where he had been assistant professor in the Department of Liberal Studies, teaching courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. In 1993, he received the Assistant Instructor Award for Excellence in Teaching from Emory