Mary McLeod Bethune was an educator, activist, and a prominent voice in the political scene. She was born July 10, 1975, in Mayesville, South Carolina. She was the fifteenth of seventeen children born to former slaves and most of her family worked in the fields picking cotton. She was the only one of her siblings to go to the missionary school for African American children. Each day Bethune walked miles both ways to get to school and she did her best to share what she learned with the rest of her family. Bethune received a scholarship to attend Scotia Seminar (now Barber-Scotia College) a school for girls in North Carolina and graduated in 1893. After, she attended Dwight Moody’s Institute for Home and Foreign Mission in Chicago for two years. Bethune had intended to become a missionary but no church was willing to sponsor her. She ended up returning to the south to become a teacher.
Bethune believed that education was the key to racial advancement. This led her to found and become the president of the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute for Negro Girls in 1904. The school originally began with only five students but in the coming years, the school would grow to have an attendance of 250+ students. The school later merged with the Cookman Institute for Men and became Bethune-Cookman College, one of the few colleges where African-American students could pursue a college degree.
Bethune was also an Activist. She was the President of Florida’s sector of the Nation Association of Colored women for years before becoming the national leader in 1924. In 1940, Bethune became the vice president of the NAACP a position she held for the rest of her life. She also played a role in the transition of black voters from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party during the Great Depression. When serving on the advisory board that created the Women’s Army Corps, she worked hard to ensure that it was racially integrated.
In addition to this, Bethune worked with and advised several presidents. President Calvin Coolidge invited her to participate in a conference about child welfare. She served on the Commission on home building and homeownership as well as the committee on child health during the Hoover administration. Most significant, however, was her work with President Roosevelt. In 1935, Bethune served as a special advisor to Roosevelt on minority affairs. In 1936, she was appointed the director of the division of Negro Affairs of the National Youth Administration which made her the highest-ranking African American woman in the government. Bethune became a friend and advisor to both the president and his wife Eleanor Roosevelt. Her work did not end there, during the Truman administration she served on the committee of national defense and was appointed the official delegate to a presidential inauguration in Liberia.
Bethune wrote “My Last Will and Testament” which served as a reflection of her life and legacy. In it, she wrote “I leave you a thirst for education. Knowledge is the prime need of the hour.” which served as a message to others.
Bethune had been honored in many ways since her passing. In 1973, she was inducted in the National Women’s Hall of Fame and was featured on a stamp in 1985. Bethune remains an important figure that fought for the improvement of the lives of Black Americans.
Sourceshttps://www2.gwu.edu/~erpapers/teachinger/glossary/bethune-mary.cfm
I loved your post! The first thing I thought after I read it was, "How come I've never heard about Mary McLeod Bethune before?" She was so successful even though she came from nothing. I love seeing how she fought for African Americans as well as for women, and worked to make future children's lives better by providing more people access to education. It's so amazing to see that she got to work closely with a few presidents and was the highest ranking African American woman during her time! There is obviously still a lot of racism in our world today, but we've come a long way thanks to people like Bethune. I'm glad the "First Lady of the Struggle" has gotten the recognition she deserves, and hope more people eventual learn about all she did.
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