Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955)

(Slavery had just ended) 1875 Mary McLeod Bethune was born in Mayesville, SC. (Slavery had just ended)

As a child, white kids told her she couldn’t read. This made her even more determined to learn.

She went to school for African Americans in a church. Her teacher was Emma Wilson. She learned all she could before she left school at age 15.

She was offered a chance to go to Scotia Seminary…. an upscale high school for girls.

She became a teacher at an African-American school, Haines Institute, in Augusta, GA .

1904 Bethune started her OWN school for girls, in Daytona Beach, FL with only $1.50. Community members helped raise money to get the school started.

1924 Bethune started “women’s clubs” to capture the power of African American women. They raised money to provide health care for African children.

The National Youth Administration helped African Americans get jobs. Great Depression: (end of 1920s – early 1930s) President Franklin Roosevelt hired Bethune to work in NYA. The National Youth Administration helped African Americans get jobs.

Bethune’s school expanded and became a college. 1931 Bethune’s school expanded and became a college. 1941 The college was named Bethune-Cookman College after Mary McLeod Bethune

Bethune won many awards and was honored in other countries.

1974 Her photo is on a United States stamp. Bethune was the 1st African-American woman to be honored with a statue in a park in Washington D.C. Her photo is on a United States stamp.