Mary McLeod Bethune Collection

Mary McLeod Bethune was a civil rights leader, educator and government official who founded the National Council of Negro Women and Bethune-Cookman College.

Mary McLeod Bethen worked the fields from the age of 5 after being born to parents who had been slaves in South Carolina. She always had an strong interest in education and dreamed of becoming a missionary in Africa after attending college. After she graduated she started a school in Daytona Beach for African American women that eventually became Bethune-Cookman University. At the time, it's quality far exceeded the standards of education for African Americans and was used as a showcase to show what educated African Americans could do. Learn & Live the Legacy!