Dr. Mary Jane McLeod Bethune

Dr. Mary Jane McLeod Bethune. Educator, Government Official, and Activist. , Mary Jane McLeod Bethune (July 10, 1875-May 18, 1955), Mary McLeod Bethune rose from poverty to become one of the nation’s most distinguished African leaders and the most prominent Black woman of her time. Her life encompassed three different careers: as an Educator, she was the central figure in the creation of Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona Beach, Florida; as founder and President of the National Council of Negro Women, she was a leading force in developing the Black Women’s Organization Movement; and in the political realm, she was one of the few Blacks to hold influential positions in the federal bureaucracy during Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration. , , While she gave counsel to presidents and made connections with America’s elite, Mary McLeod Bethune was readily accessible to average men and women and the college students that she mothered and mentored. Her access to people of power and privilege was never something she used to benefit herself. It was always an opportunity to gain access for those shut out of opportunities in our society. She enlisted leaders of government and industry to support her vision and dreams for her school in Daytona Beach, for social justice and positive change for all. , , Mary McLeod Bethune’s vision lives on today at the school that she founded which continues to sustain her legacy of faith, scholarship and service. , , [Caption ] , Mary McLeod Bethune , 1875-1955 Let her works praise her