Mary Jane McLeod Bethune (July 10, 1875 - May 18, 1955) was an American educator and civil rights. Born in South Carolina to parents who had been slaves, she took an early interest in her own education. With the help of benefactors, she attended college h
Mary Jane McLeod Bethune (July 10, 1875 - May 18, 1955) was an American educator and civil rights. Born in South Carolina to parents who had been slaves, she took an early interest in her own education. With the help of benefactors, she attended college hoping to become a missionary in Africa, but instead started a school for African-American girls in Daytona Beach in 1904. It grew and merged with an institute for African-American boys and became the Bethune-Cookman School. Its quality far surpassed the standards of education for African-American students, and rivaled those of schools for white students. She was a member of the National Association of Colored Women (NACW) and was president of the Florida chapter from 1917-25. She was invited to attend the Child Welfare Conference called by President Calvin Coolidge in 1928. In 1930 Herbert Hoover appointed her to the White House Conference on Child Health. In 1932 she worked for the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and became a member of Roosevelt's Black Cabinet, sharing the concerns of black people with the Roosevelt administration while spreading Roosevelt's message to blacks, who had been traditionally Republican voters. In 1935 she founded the National Council of Negro Women in New York City. She dedicated her life to the education of both whites and blacks about the accomplishments and needs of black people. She died of a heart attack in 1955 at the age of 79. In 1973, Mary McLeod Bethune was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.
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