John H. Burrus

John Houston Burrus (February 22, 1849 – March 27, 1917) was an educator in Nashville, Tennessee and Lorman, Mississippi. He was a member of the first class of students at Fisk University in Nashville and when that class graduated became among the first group of African-Americans to graduate from a liberal arts college south of the Mason–Dixon line. He was a professor of mathematics at Fisk and in 1883 became the second president of Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College, a position he held until 1893.

Early life John Houston Burrus was born February 22, 1849, to William C. J. Burrus and his slave, Nancy, near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, in Rutherford County. William was a planter and lawyer and had been a Whig member of the General Assembly of Tennessee. Nancy was mixed-race: African-American, Native American, and white. William died in 1860 During this time they saved enough and learned enough so that by 1867 they were able to enroll at Fisk University along with America W. Robinson and Virginia Walker, who were the schools first students. In 1879, he resigned in favor of his younger brother who had just graduated. In 1878 he was elected permanent secretary of the Tennessee Republican State convention and was secretary and treasurer of the State executive committee for the next two years. He was elected to the board of school directors for his district for consecutive three year terms from 1878 to 1884. The district had two other directors, both white, and 17 teachers, of whom nine were white. He served as chairman of the board and succeeded in equalizing the salaries of the white and black teachers. In 1880, he spoke at the State Teachers Institute convention in Nashville about unequal funding in schools. This was based on the requirements of the Morrill Act of 1862 which funded land-grant institutions and resulted in new scholarships for black students at Fisk University. He was chosen alternate delegate to the 1880 Republican National Convention. In 1882 he was a candidate for register in Davidson County, Tennessee, in August, and in November he was a candidate for the Tennessee House of Representatives.

Alcorn A&M In August 1883 he was offered the presidency of Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College in Lorman, Mississippi, following Hiram Rhodes Revels in that position. In 1898 he attended the National Educational Association Convention in Nashville.

Later life and death After leaving Alcorn, he continued to be active in education. In 1903, he wrote to the Nashville American again criticizing inequal treatment of blacks when federal moneys given to Tennessee under the Morrill Acts were dispersed. He died of bronchial pneumonia on March 27, 1917, in Nashville. His funeral was at Howard Congregational Church and was buried in Greenwood Cemetery.