MARY MCLEOD BETHUNE

MARY MCLEOD BETHUNE, (1875 -1955) was a college president, civil rights leader, adviser to presidents, and member of President Roosevelt’s Black Cabinet.

In 1973, Mary McLeod Bethune was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame, and in 1985 the U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp in her honor.

Narration:

Groundbreaking educator and civil rights leader. Her name – Mary McLeod Bethune.

Born in this South Carolina cabin to former slaves, Mary Jane McLeod started working the fields at five.

Realizing the importance of learning to read and write, McLeod started her education at a school run by Presbyterians. She married in 1898 and was running a mission school in Florida in 1899.

By 1904, Bethune started the Literary and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls in Daytona, later renamed Bethune-Cookman College, and Bethune-Cookman University.

Founder of many women’s groups, Bethune was a crusader for civil rights and women’s rights.

Appointed to numerous commissions, Bethune advised five U.S. presidents and joined President Roosevelt’s Black Cabinet in 1932 to better the lives of African Americans.

Mary McLeod Bethune – A Great American

Credits: Editor: Stacy T. Holmes, ACE, Narrator: Steve Schy, Music: PartnersinRhyme.com, Digital Collection: Library of Congress, Copyright: CBN Communications