Also American

Person · 1875–1955

Mary McLeod Bethune

The educator and adviser who built a college from nothing and became the most powerful Black woman in New Deal Washington.

A bridge between Black education and national power.

Born to formerly enslaved parents, Mary McLeod Bethune founded the school that became Bethune-Cookman University, led the National Council of Negro Women, and advised President Roosevelt as part of his informal "Black Cabinet," shaping federal policy on race.

Political Leadership

On the timeline

  1. October 3, 1904
    Mary McLeod Bethune opens her school

    Founds, with $1.50, the Daytona school that becomes Bethune-Cookman University.

  2. June 25, 1941
    Executive Order 8802

    Pressured by A. Philip Randolph's threatened march, FDR bans discrimination in defense industries.

Resources