Edward S. Hope

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Edward Swain Hope (August 28, 1901 – June 8, 1990) was an African-American engineer, university professor, and a pioneering Navy officer. Born in Atlanta to John Hope and Lugenia Burns, he excelled at Morehouse College, earning a Bachelor of Science in 1923, then went to MIT where he earned another BS and an MS in civil engineering. He later earned a Doctor of Education from Columbia University.

Hope worked on engineering projects in the United States and abroad, including Brazil. In 1932 he became Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds at Howard University, where he worked for several years. He married Marion Grace Conover in 1933, and they had two sons.

During World War II, Hope joined the U.S. Navy and became the highest-ranking Black officer in the Navy at that time, attaining the rank of Lieutenant Commander. He served as a public works officer at Pearl Harbor and later helped lead the Navy’s Pacific University in Hawaii. He took part in a court-martial board in Okinawa and, after more than a year, left active duty in 1947.

After the Navy, Hope returned to Howard University as a professor of civil engineering. In 1951 he moved to Lebanon to teach at the American University of Beirut, eventually becoming head of the engineering department and later dean of the Civil Engineering Department. He supported civil rights efforts and participated in the 1963 March on Washington. In 1969 he returned to the United States to work for the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, focusing on education programs, and retired in 1975.

Hope’s first wife Marion died in 1974. He later married Louise Kent. He died in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1990. He is remembered for his achievements as an engineer, educator, and as a trailblazing Black Navy officer who helped open doors for others.