Memorial for Mary McLeod Bethune, Educator and Activist, Washington, D.C.

Title

Memorial for Mary McLeod Bethune, Educator and Activist, Washington, D.C.

Description

Memorial commemorating Mary McLeod Bethune, an educator and activist who made significant contributions to the rights of African Americans.

The inscription reads:

"Let her works praise her. I leave you love. • I leave you hope. • I leave you the challenge of developing confidence in one another. • I leave you a thirst for education. • I leave you a respect for the use of power. • I leave you faith. • I leave you racial dignity. • I leave you also a desire to live harmoniously with your fellow man. • I leave you finally a responsibility to our young people.
—Mary McLeod Bethune."

It was erected on July 10th, 1974 by the National Council of Negro Women, Inc.

Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955) was an educator and civil rights activist from Mayesville, Sourth Carolina.

Bethune's parents were former slaves, but she believed that education was integral to racial advancement. Her career in education and activism began with a scholarship to Scotia Seminary, a school for African American girls, in 1888. Following graduation in 1893, she enrolled in the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois.

Although she wanted to become missionary in Africa, she was told that African Americans could not hold such positions. Instead, she devoted herself to teaching. With the construction of the Florida East Coast Railroad in 1904, hundreds of African Americans arrived in search of work. Recognizing a need for education, she founded the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute, which became Bethune-Cookman College in 1929. By 1955, over one thousand students had enrolled in the college.

She worked tirelessly to promote full citizenship for all African Americans, founding several influential organizations such as the National Association of Colored Women and the National Council of Negro Women (which had a membership of 800,000 in the year of her death). During the Roosevelt administration, Bethune served as an adviser to the President on minority affairs. and was director of the Division of Negro Affairs as part of the National Youth Administration.

Bethune received many awards and honorary degrees, including the Haitian Medal of Honor and Merit.

Creator

Carl Van Vetchen - Photographer, Robert Berks - Sculptor

Date

April 6 1949: Photograph, July 10, 1974: Sculpture

Source

https://www.womenofthehall.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/mary-mcleod-bethune-205x294.jpg, https://cdn.loc.gov/service/pnp/highsm/12500/12536r.jpg

Relation

Source: National Womens Hall of Fame http://www.womenofthehall.org/inductee/mary-mcleod-bethune/. Retrieved June 1, 2015.

Link: Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2011630730/

Rights

Source: Mary Mcleod Bethune Biography. Encyclopedia of World Biography. Retrieved October 12, 2012

Publisher

Library of Congress

Contributor

Library of Congress

Format

First photo: Medium: Photograph.

Mary Jane Mcleod Bethune: 1875-1955.

Second photo - Sculpture. Medium: Sculpture

Language

English

Type

Figures

Identifier

Memorial, Mary McLeod Bethune, African-Americans, Civil Rights, Education, Women

Coverage

Historic

Files

https://cdn.loc.gov/service/pnp/highsm/12500/12536r.jpg
Mary_McLeod_Bethune_(1949).jpg

Reference

Carl Van Vetchen - Photographer, Robert Berks - Sculptor, Memorial for Mary McLeod Bethune, Educator and Activist, Washington, D.C., Library of Congress, April 6 1949: Photograph, July 10, 1974: Sculpture

Cite As

Carl Van Vetchen - Photographer, Robert Berks - Sculptor, “Memorial for Mary McLeod Bethune, Educator and Activist, Washington, D.C.,” Virtual Museum of Public Service, accessed March 28, 2024, https://vmps.omeka.net/items/show/270.