Mary McLeod Bethune - The First Lady of the Struggle
Brooklyn CollEge Mary McLeod Bethune The First Lady of the Struggle Jonathan Jungblut 5/23/ Educ – Professor N. Florence – Spring Biography Mary Jane McLeod was born in Mayesville, South Carolina on July 10, to Patsy and Samuel McLeod, a thrifty farm-owning family. Being that she was the fifteenth of seventeen kids and the first to be born not a slave, they encouraged their “different acting and different looking” daughter to get a formal education (McCluskey, , pg. 4). In an interview with Dr. Charles Johnson done near the end of her life, Bethune recalled a situation when she was a young girl that took place at a white family’s house where her mother worked. I picked up one of the books and one of the girls said to me – “You can’t read that. Put that down. I will show you some pictures over here” – and when she said that to me – “You can’t read that. Put that down.” - it just did something to my pride and my heart that made me feel that someday I would read just as she was reading…… I went away from there determined to learn how to read and that someday I would master for myself just what they were getting and it wa
Mary McLeod Bethune
By Beverly Johnson-Miller
Protestant
MARY MCLEOD BETHUNE (): Her life epitomized her philosophy of Christian Education. With a sense of divine destiny, clear vision, and daily awareness of God's presence and purpose, Mary Jane McLeod Bethune, the daughter of freed slaves, became the most influential black woman of her times in the United States. Along with the establishment of the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute for Negro Girls, later Bethune-Cookman College, Mary Bethune served as president of many national organizations and held leadership appointments under Presidents Coolidge, Hoover, Roosevelt, and Truman. Her life of profound faith and service left a contagious legacy of perpetual spiritual and social transformation.
Biography
Early Years
The fifteenth of seventeen children, Mary Jane McLeod was born on July 10, , in the small farming community of Mayesville, Sumter County, South Carolina. Her parents, Samuel and Patsy McLeod, were freed slaves who depended on the employment of their former owners for survival. The social, educational, and economic disadvantages however, gave shape to a family context centered on God.
The desol
Mary McLeod Bethune (): Founder of the National Council of Negro Women
Political career and relationship with the Roosevelt family
Mary McLeod Bethune (left) and then-U.S. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt (center),
Bethune developed a great relationship with Eleanor Roosevelt, U.S. First Lady and wife of U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt. This was probably due to her initiative to improve education in the country. She was a regular guest at the White House, attending many state functions with the country’s first family.
In , when Roosevelt needed people to advise him on issues facing the African American community, he established the Federal Council of Negro Affairs, which was popular known as the ‘Black Cabinet’. Due to their good relationship, the president appointed Bethune to serve as the leader of the council. As a member of the group, she endorsed many anti-racist policies. During WWII, she worked in the office of the Secretary of War as a special assistant.
Read More: 10 Notable Achievements of U.S. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt
Who was she married to?
Aside from being an activist, Mary was also a caring mother and wife. In , at age 23, she became the spouse
Mary McLeod Bethune, African American Educator and Activist
Page history last edited by Robert W. Maloy3 months, 1 week ago
"Whatever the white man has done, we have done, and often better." - Mary McLeod Bethune
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Childhood
Work as an Educator
Work as an Activist
Lasting ImpactsInteractive Teaching and Learning Resources
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