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Biography of Mary McLeod Bethune

Mary Jane McLeod Bethune was born in 1875 in Mayesville, South Carolina. She was the fifteenth of seventeen children of Samuel and Patsy McIntosh McLeod, former slaves who worked on cotton plantations. From an early age, Mary showed a remarkable passion and talent for learning. She began her education at a Presbyterian school, where her first teacher, Emma Jane Wilson, became her lifelong mentor.

Mary later attended Scotia Seminary, which later became Barber-Scotia College. She then went on to study at Dwight L. Moody's Institute for Home and Foreign Missions in Chicago, now known as the Moody Bible Institute.

In 1904, Mary McLeod Bethune moved to Daytona Beach, Florida, where she established her own school for Black girls. Initially a small one-room facility, the school later merged with the Cookman Institute for Boys from Jacksonville in 1923, becoming a high school for African Americans. Today, it is known as Bethune-Cookman University.

During her time as the head of the school, Mary dedicated herself to providing her students, who were mainly from poor African American families, with not only a high level of education but also a decent way of life and a religious upbringing. In a short period of time, the school became one of the best educational institutions in the state.

In 1936, Bethune was appointed as the Director of the Division of Negro Affairs of the National Youth Administration by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. This appointment made her the first African American woman to head a federal agency. She also founded the National Council of Negro Women and remained actively involved in the National Association of Colored Women until the end of her life.

Mary McLeod Bethune passed away on May 18, 1955, from a heart attack. Her obituaries appeared in newspapers across the country, and her death was mourned by a large number of people, particularly African Americans, throughout America. She was described as a tall woman with truly black skin, always seen with her cane, which she never parted with. Her many students affectionately called her "Mother Bethune." She was known for always achieving what she set out to do, using both her feminine vulnerability and her unwavering determination, depending on the situation.

In terms of her personal life, Mary married Albertus Bethune in 1898, and they lived in Savannah, Georgia, where she engaged in social work. In 1907, Albert left her without seeking a divorce and moved to South Carolina, where he passed away in 1918.

After her death, Mary McLeod Bethune was named one of America's outstanding women. Her name was included in the list of "100 Greatest African Americans" in 2002, and schools across the United States have been named in her honor.

Her home in Daytona Beach became a National Historic Landmark, her home in Washington, D.C. is protected by the National Park Service as a National Historic Site, and a sculpture of Bethune is located in Lincoln Park in Washington, D.C.