Mary McLeod Bethune
Born on July 10, 1875, in Mayesville, South Carolina, Mary McLeod Bethune was
a child of former slaves. A scholarship to Scotia Seminary in North Carolina in
1888 launched her career as educator and activist. Believing that education
provided the key to racial advancement, she founded the Daytona Normal and
Industrial Institute, which later became Bethune-Cookman College.
Profile
Educator and civil and women's rights activist. Born July 10, 1875 in
Mayesville, South Carolina. A child of former slaves, she began her life picking
cotton, but a scholarship to Scotia Seminary in North Carolina in 1888 launched
her long and distinguished career as educator and activist.
Believing
that education provided the key to racial advancement, she founded the Daytona
Normal and Industrial Institute, Florida (1904), which through her persistent
direction as president (1904–42) became Bethune-Cookman College (1929). An
activist, she mobilized thousands of black women as leader and founder of the
National Association of Colored Women and the National Council of Negro
Women.
A national figure, she served in the Roosevelt administration as
adviser to the president on minority affairs and director of the Division of
Negro Affairs within the National Youth Administration (1936–44). Through her
efforts to promote full citizenship rights for all African-Americans and her
feminist perspective, she came to symbolize the dual role black women played as
activists for the rights of blacks and women.
a child of former slaves. A scholarship to Scotia Seminary in North Carolina in
1888 launched her career as educator and activist. Believing that education
provided the key to racial advancement, she founded the Daytona Normal and
Industrial Institute, which later became Bethune-Cookman College.
Profile
Educator and civil and women's rights activist. Born July 10, 1875 in
Mayesville, South Carolina. A child of former slaves, she began her life picking
cotton, but a scholarship to Scotia Seminary in North Carolina in 1888 launched
her long and distinguished career as educator and activist.
Believing
that education provided the key to racial advancement, she founded the Daytona
Normal and Industrial Institute, Florida (1904), which through her persistent
direction as president (1904–42) became Bethune-Cookman College (1929). An
activist, she mobilized thousands of black women as leader and founder of the
National Association of Colored Women and the National Council of Negro
Women.
A national figure, she served in the Roosevelt administration as
adviser to the president on minority affairs and director of the Division of
Negro Affairs within the National Youth Administration (1936–44). Through her
efforts to promote full citizenship rights for all African-Americans and her
feminist perspective, she came to symbolize the dual role black women played as
activists for the rights of blacks and women.
Best Known ForMary McLeod Bethune was an educator and activist, founding the National Association of Colored Women and the National Council of Negro Women.
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