Mary Jane McLeod Bethune became one of the most prominent African American educators,
government officials, civil rights activists, and women’s rights leaders of the twentieth
century. She was the first in her family and the only one among 16 of her siblings
to attend school. She became the first African American to receive an honorary doctorate
from a white southern college, a Doctor of Humanities degree.
Bethune founded what is now called Bethune-Cookman University, currently one of the 107 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). The university initially began as a training institute for African American girls in 1904, and within two years grew from five students to 250 students. By 1923, the school had 300 girls enrolled, eight buildings on a 20-acre campus used to train teachers.
Bethune used her knowledge as an educator both inside and outside of the classroom. She spent countless hours lobbying for education programs to be made available for African Americans and HBCU campuses. She was one of the founders of the United Negro College Fund, one of the nation's oldest and one of the most successful minority higher education assistance organizations in the world. She was very active in several organizations and businesses whose purpose was to provide a better quality of life for African Americans and women. She served as an advisor to several White House Administrations including Presidents Roosevelt and Truman. Bethune was the only female member of Roosevelt’s “Black Cabinet,” a term was coined by her and frequently used to describe Roosevelt’s advisors on issues facing African American communities throughout the country. She was appointed by Truman to help draft a charter at the founding conference of the United Nations. She was the only woman of color at the meeting.
In honoring her legacy, Bethune will be the first Black person to represent a state in the National Statuary Hall Collection at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., in February 2022. The Florida-commissioned statue will be placed permanently in the Capitol, replacing the statue of a confederate general.
Quotes from Bethune’s Last Will and Testament:
“I leave you a thirst for education. Knowledge is the prime need of the hour.” Bethune
would add “If I have a legacy to leave my people, it is my philosophy of living and
serving.” Bethune closed with “I leave you finally a responsibility to our young people.
The world around us really belongs to youth for youth will take over its future management.
Our children must never lose their zeal for building a better world.”