Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site ⓘ

Born Mary Jane McLeod on July 10, 1875 in Mayesville, South Carolina, the fifteenth of seventeen children, she had the unusual opportunity to attend school and receive an education not common among African Americans following the Civil War. Most of her schooling prepared her for missionary work abroad, though she would never serve. Instead, she taught at schools in Georgia and South Carolina. In Sumter, South Carolina in 1898, she met her husband, Albertus Bethune, and within a year gave birth to their son, Albert. The family moved to Palatka, Florida, approximately 50 miles south of Jacksonville. There, she established a missionary school.

Bethune moved again to Daytona Beach and established another school—the Daytona Literary and Industrial Training Institute for Negro Girls—on October 3, 1904 that she grew from $1.50, five girls (plus her son), faith in God, confidence in her people, and a belief in herself, to a high school. In 1923, this school merged with the all-male Cookman Institute of Jacksonville, Florida, and in 1931, the school became accredited by the Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools of the Southern States, with its name officially changed to Bethune-Cookman College, at which time Bethune became the first African American woman to serve as a college president. At the time, it was one of the very few institutions below the Mason-Dixon Line where African Americans could receive something higher than a high school diploma. Now a fully accredited university , the school enrolls over 4,000 students.

While working in Daytona Beach, Bethune became involved with a number of clubs and organizations supporting the efforts of African American women. Beginning first at a state level, Bethune worked to establish programs that would fight to end segregated education, to improve healthcare for Black children, and to help women use the ballot to advance equality . Her successes on a local level propelled her to the national stage when the National Association of Colored Women (NACW) elected her its eighth national president in 1924. Working with a large national organization helped Bethune develop a network of contacts. Bethune’s previous administrative experiences served her well, and she proved to be a capable manager of the day-to-day affairs of the 10,000 member association. She grew the organization, undertook fundraising activities, and strengthened communication between its members. When her tenure as president ended, she began to formulate plans for an umbrella organization that would not just focus on making women better people, but on helping them to become agents of social change. The results of these plans drove her to create the National Council of Negro Women, Inc. (NCNW) on December 5, 1935, at which time she was unanimously elected its first president, serving until 1949. Under her leadership, the NCNW grew to over 850,000 members. Today, the over 4 million members of the NCNW continue the work begun by Bethune.

As President of a college, civil rights champion, and a leader of women, Bethune gained prominence which brought her national recognition. She became Vice President of both the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the National Urban League, and later began to attract attention from presidents of the United States . After serving as an advisor to Presidents Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover receiving appointments to a number of commissions that advised the president on labor and youth employment as well as education, her most notable contribution ocurred in 1935 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt called her to Washington. He had asked Bethune to serve as a Special Advisor to the National Youth Administration. He was so impressed with her work that the following year, he created her own department within the agency and appointed the sixty-one year old Bethune its Director of the Division of Negro Affairs, at which time she became the first African American woman to head a federal agency. Also, by convening the Federal Council on Negro Affairs—also called the “Black Cabinet” or "Black Brain Trust" in the press, she and other council members worked to increase opportunities for African Americans during the New Deal. During World War II, she advised President Harry S. Truman and continued to fight for African Americans, particularly for the inclusion of African American women in the WAACS (Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps) and WAVES (Women Appointed for Voluntary Emergency Service). These women would go on to serve valiantly in the European theater.

* At this time, the National Archives for Black Women's History is not accepting research requests. We are sorry for the inconvenience and hope to be able to serve you soon. Mission Statement

To identify, collect, develop, interpret, and preserve the legacy of Mary McLeod Bethune including her unique focus on the individual and collective history of African American women.

The National Archives for Black Women's History documents the legacy of Mary McLeod Bethune. The archives collects materials about and illustrating Mary McLeod Bethune, the National Council of Negro Women, other African American women's organizations, and individuals associated with those organizations. The archives also documents the ongoing preservation and interpretation of the Bethune legacy. The archives collects information in all media with a special focus on the years of Mary McLeod Bethune's life, 1875-1955.

Researchers are encouraged to complete their preliminary research at archives and libraries with a broader topical focus before approaching the holdings of the National Archives for Black Women's History [NABWH] of Mary McLeod Bethune Council House NHS. The Archive has limited reference staff and limited space that must be reserved for researchers whose work focuses on materials available only at the NABWH. Access to materials is dependent upon their physical condition and the level of processing to-date by the NPS. All research in the materials must be done on-site in the research room.

Access Researchers should submit a request to the Archives detailing their research project to the Archivist. Research requests should be submitted with enough lead-time to allow for the evaluation of the request and the scheduling of a research visit. Research slots are often booked weeks in advance. Submit research requests to:

Archivist National Archives for Black Women's History Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site Email us Telephone: 301-832-3977

Approval of all research requests will be based on availability of the archives staff to supervise researchers. Only one researcher can be accommodated at a time and research slots are often scarce, so please plan ahead.

Please note: As a courtesy to fellow researchers, if you make an appointment please show up and make the most efficient possible use of the scheduled time. Appointments are scheduled from 9:30am to 4:00pm. Especially if you are scheduled for multiple days, you should plan to spend the whole day researching (minus a lunch, of course). Please schedule sightseeing, research elsewhere, or other activities outside your appointment hours. If you need to cancel an appointment, please do so as soon as possible so we can reschedule the day for someone else.

The Mary McLeod Bethune Council House NHS archives staff will email the required registration forms and electronic versions of our finding aids to the researcher. We strongly suggest that the researcher work through the finding aids before their visit to maximize the efficiency of their time with the collections. To ensure the conservation and security of this resource, browsing is not permitted.

Archives staff can answer some reference questions over the phone, depending on the complexity and time involved in fulfilling the request. Registration as a researcher is still required. Digital Access The National Archives for Black Women's History is going digital! Please visit NPGallery Search Results for our digital records. Content is updated frequently. If appropriate, the staff will send to interested individuals digitized copies of materials from the archives in PDF or multimedia format by secure file transfer.

All written requests for information will be answered in a timely manner. The more specific the request the easier it will be for staff to provide an answer. The archives staff reserve the right to determine that a complex or extensive request will require a research visit.

For additional information on the archives procedures and holdings, please contact the archivist by e-mail through e-mail us or by telephone at 301-832-3977.

I LEAVE YOU LOVE . Love builds. It is positive and helpful. It is more beneficial than hate...Loving your neighbor means being interracial, interreligious, and international.

I LEAVE YOU HOPE . The Negro's growth will be great in the years to come. Yesterday, our ancestors endured the degradation of slavery, yet they retained their dignity.

I LEAVE YOU THE CHALLENGE OF DEVELOPING CONFIDENCE IN ONE ANOTHER . As long as Negroes are hemmed into racial blocs of prejudice and pressure, it will be necessary for them to band together for economic betterment.

I LEAVE YOU A RESPECT FOR THE USE OF POWER . We live in a world which respects power above all things. Power, intelligently directed, can lead to more freedom. Unwisely directed, it can be a dreadful destructive force.

I LEAVE YOU FAITH . Faith is the first factor in a life devoted to service. Without faith nothing is possible. With it, nothing is impossible. Faith in God is the greatest power, but great too, is faith in oneself.

I LEAVE YOU RACIAL DIGNITY . I want Negroes to maintain their human dignity at all costs. We, as Negroes, must recognize that we are the custodians as well as the heirs of a great civilization. We have given something to the world as a race and for this we are proud and fully conscious of our place in the total picture of mankind's development.

I LEAVE YOU A DESIRE TO LIVE HARMONIOUSLY WITH YOUR FELLOW MAN . The problem of color is world-wide. It is found in Africa and Asia, Europe and South America. I appeal to American Negroes - both North and, South, East and West - to recognize their common problems and unite to solve them.

I LEAVE YOU, FINALLY, A RESPONSIBILITY TO OUR YOUNG PEOPLE . The world around us really belongs to youth, for youth will take over its future management. Our children must never, lose their zeal for building a better world. They must not be discouraged from aspiring toward greatness, for they are to be the leaders of tomorrow... The Freedom Gates are half a-jar. We must pry them fully open .

By her own words and example, Mary McLeod Bethune demonstrated the value of education, a philosophy of universal love, and the wise and consistent use of political power in striving for racial and gender equality. The 15th of 17 children of former slaves, Bethune grew up amidst poverty and oppression of the Reconstruction South, yet rose to prominence as an educator, presidential advisor, and political activist. Through her own schooling by missionaries in South Carolina, Bethune recognized the importance of education in the emerging struggle for civil rights. In 1904 she founded the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute for Negro Girls in Daytona Beach, Florida, which later merged with the Cookman Institute to become Bethune-Cookman College. In 2007, the school became Bethune-Cookman University. Mary McLeod Bethune worked tirelessly to influence legislation affecting African Americans and women and continued to be an important voice for human rights until her death in 1955 at the age of 79.

Birth: July 10, 1875 (Mayesville, South Carolina) Death: May 18, 1955 (Daytona Beach, Florida) Parents: Samuel McLeod, Patsy (McIntosh) McLeod

These grandchildren have given her 17 great-grandchildren and 8 great-great grandchildren (as of 2007).

Teaching Experience: Haines Institute, Augusta, Georgia, 1895-1896 Kindell Institute, Sumter, South Carolina, 1897-1898 Palatka Mission School, Palatka, Florida, 1899-1903 Founder - Daytona Normal and Industrial School for Negro Girls (Bethune-Cookman College, Daytona Beach, Florida), 1904 President - Bethune-Cookman College, 1904-1942

Honorary Degrees: M.S. South Carolina State College, 1910 A.M. Wilberforce University, 1915 LL.D. Lincoln University (Pennsylvania), 1935 Doctor of Humanities, Bennett College, 1936 M.D. Tuskegee Institute, 1937 LL.D. Howard University, 1942 LL.D. Atlanta University, 1943 LL.D. Wiley College, 1943 Doctor of Humanities, West Virginia State College, 1947 Doctor of Humanities, Rollins College, 1949 Doctor of Humanities, Benedict College, 1950

Awards: (Too numerous to be listed). Among them: Spingarn Medal (NAACP), 1935 Frances A. Drexel Award (Xavier University), 1937 First Annual Youth's City Award (Daytona Beach), 1941 Thomas Jefferson Award (SCHW), 1942 Medal of Honor and Merit (Haiti), 1949 Star of Africa (Liberia), 1952 Dorie Miller Award, 1954

Government Service: National Child Welfare Commission (Appointed by President Calvin Coolidge & President Herbert Hoover) Commission on Home Building and Home Ownership (Appointed by President Herbert Hoover) Special Advisor to President Franklin Roosevelt on Minority Affairs, 1935-1944 Director, Division of Negro Affairs, National Youth Administration, 1936-1944 Housing Board, Daytona Beach, Florida, 1938- Special Assistant to the Secretary of War for the selection of candidates for Officer Training School for WAACS, 1942 Committee of Twelve for National Defense (Appointed by President Harry Truman), 1951 Official Delegate to the second inauguration of William V.S. Tubman as President of Liberia (Appointed by President Harry Truman), 1952

War Service: Director, Florida Chapter American Red Cross Member of Board of Directors, American Women's Volunteer Services General, Women's Army for the National Defense Toured General Hospitals of First, Second, and Third Service Commands advising on rehabilitation of veterans, 1944

Affiliations: Educational Organizations: Florida State Teachers Organization (President) American Teachers Association (President) Board of Education, Methodist Church National Commission on Christian Education, Association of American Colleges Association for the Study of Negro Life and History American Council on African Education Advisory Board International Longfellow Society (Honorary President) National Committee on Atomic Education Executive Board

Women's Organizations: National Association of Colored Women (President) Florida State Federation of Colored Women's Clubs (President) National Council of Women of the U.S.A. (Honorary Vice-President) National Council of Negro Women (Founder & President)

Race Relations and Political Action Organizations: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (Vice-President & Consultant to the conference to draft United Nations Charter, 1945) National Urban League (Vice-President) Commission on Interracial Cooperation (Vice-President) Southern Conference for Human Welfare (Vice-President & Board of Representatives) Southern Conference Educational Fund (Board of Directors) League of Women Voters Americans for Democratic Action

Religious Organizations: General Conference of Methodist Church (Member 1923-1955) Council of Church Women Executive Board American Mothers Committee on Golden Rule Volunteers Board of Directors Hadassah (Honorary Member)

Civic and Social Service Organizations: Delinquent Home for Colored Girls, Ocala, Florida (Founder) Social Service Commission of Methodist Church Committee of Friends of the Atlanta School of Social Work National Sharecroppers Fund Board Planned Parenthood Federation of America (Sponsor) Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. (Honorary Member of Board) American Committee for Yugoslav Relief, Harlem Division Executive Committee (Honorary Chairman)

Businesses: Afro-American Life Insurance Company, Inc. (Director) Central Life Insurance Company, Inc. (President) Bethune-Volusia Beach, Inc. (Founder & President)

The Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site interprets the life and legacy of Mary McLeod Bethune and the work and legacy of the National Council of Negro Women, Inc. (NCNW). From 1943 to 1966, the house served as the first national headquarters of the NCNW and served as Bethune's final residence in the nation's capital from 1943 to 1949. The Mary McLeod Bethune Council House NHS is a unique unit of the national park system in that it also maintains an archive (located at the NPS Museum Resource Center in Landover, MD) featuring materials relating to the history of African American women in the United States. Public Law 102-211 which authorized the incorporation of the Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Sites into the National Park System also authorized the creation of a Federal Advisory Commission to work with the National Park Service in an advisory capacity on the General Management Plan for the site. For additional information on the Federal Advisory Commission or the General Management Plan, visit the Park Planning section of this page.