Mary McLeod Bethune

Educator, Organization founder

1875 – 1955

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Who was Mary McLeod Bethune?

Mary Jane McLeod Bethune was an American educator and civil rights leader best known for starting a school for African-American students in Daytona Beach, Florida, that eventually became Bethune-Cookman University and for being an advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. She was known as "The First Lady of The Struggle” because of her commitment to bettering African Americans.

Born in South Carolina to parents who had been slaves and having to work in fields at age five, she took an early interest in her own education. With the help of benefactors, Bethune attended college hoping to become a missionary in Africa. When that did not materialize, she started a school for African-American girls in Daytona Beach. From six students it grew and merged with an institute for African-American boys and eventually became the Bethune-Cookman School. Its quality far surpassed the standards of education for African-American students, and rivaled those of schools for white students. Bethune worked tirelessly to ensure funding for the school, and used it as a showcase for tourists and donors, to exhibit what educated African-Americans could do. She was president of the college from 1923 to 1942 and 1946 to 1947, one of the few women in the world who served as a college president at that time.

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Born
Jul 10, 1875
Mayesville
Spouses
Ethnicity
  • African American
Nationality
  • United States of America
Profession
Education
  • Barber-Scotia College
  • Moody Bible Institute
Lived in
  • Florida
  • South Carolina
Died
May 18, 1955
Daytona Beach

Submitted
on July 23, 2013

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