Mary McLeod Bethune July 10,1875-May 18,1995

Family She was born July 10, 1875 on a rice and cotton farm in Mayesville, S.C. Mary Jane McLeod was the first free slave fifteenth of seventeen children, some of who had been sold into enslavement. Her parents worked for there slaves master even after they were freed from slavery because they wanted to save there money to purchase land from them and they did. In Mayesville, South Carolina, they built a three-room log cabin on their five acres of hilly land which they called "The Homestead."

Education Mrs. McLeod attended Maysville Presbyterian Mission School at the age of eleven, Scotia Seminary located in North Carolina ( paid by Mary Crissman a Quaker seamstress from Colorado) and the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago (Dwight Moody’s Institute for Home and Foreign Missions.) The difference between the school was one was kind towards her and the other wasn’t.

Lifestyle Ms. Mcleod was a missionary. She chose to make a difference not only for a family but for everyone. She spent her time teaching people how to read especially when it pertained to voting.

New Family Ms. McLeod met her husband a teacher in North Carolina while teaching at Kendall Institute. They married and a a son named Albert. With a continuing dream to start her own school, Mary soon moved to Daytona, Florida, where schools were needed for the growing black population. Alburtus did not share her dream, and they separated in 1907. He died in 1919.

Career Mrs. Bethune was and educator and a entrepreneur. She opened her first school in October 1904 called Daytona Educational and Industrial Training School with a student body of five. Tuition: .50 a week The focus: training girls to take care of home The three “r”s: reading, writing and arithmetic. Funding: fundraisers and community help. New school: In three years was able to relocated to a permanent facility it is a thirty-two acre campus with fourteen buildings and 400 students. In 1923 it merged with Cookman Institute of Jacksonville, Florida and became Bethune-Cookman College (coeducational).

Accomplishment Founded the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute for Negro Girls (now Bethune-Cookman College) in 1904, and served as president from 1904-1942 and from 1946-47. Her house is on campus is maintained as a National Historic Landmark. Was a leader in the black women’s club movement and served as president of the National Association of Colored Women. She was a delegate and advisor to national conferences on education, child welfare, and home ownership. She was Director of Negro Affairs in the National Youth Administration from 1936 to 1944. Served as consultant to the U.S Secretary of War for selection of the first female officer candidates.

Death Mary McLeod Bethune died on May 18, 1955. Her life was full of dreams that were successful and beneficial to her life and many others. The Bethune-Cookman College stands as a monument for her life and accomplishments today. Mary McLeod Bethune was not only a wonderful educator, but she was a great organizer and political activist.

Why did I choose this person? I chose this person because I feel that I am a reflection of what she was a person that enjoyed helping others and making change. She was a advocator a voice for African Americans. This is how I see my self. She never stopped learning and giving to make sure others had a chance of freedom and choice. I pray that everyone has taking advantage of their educational and voting rights, I also petition you to spend time with your children reading and teaching them right from wrong. And continually making the word of God their foundation of how a person should live.