July 10
On July 10, 1875, educator and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune was born.
Mary Bethune played an integral part in founding many black prestigious institutes and organizations, in addition to her role as an advisor in the Roosevelt administration where she advocated for the rights of black men and women.
Bethune was born in South Carolina in 1875. After attending Moody Institute in Chicago, Bethune founded the Daytona Educational and Industrial School for Negro Girls. Shortly after its founding, the all-girls school merged with the Cookman Institute to establish Bethune-Cookman College in 1923. Upon seeing the need for a space for black women to connect amongst themselves, Bethune created the National Council of Negro Women in 1935. Her activism didn’t stop there. In 1936, Bethune joined the Roosevelt administration, where used her passion to intact policies and laws that sought to empower and educate black people.
Mary Bethune died in 1955, not before receiving her flowers for all the contributions she made to the civil rights and women’s rights movement. Today her legacy remains instilled in the history of America with several national parks, monuments, statues, and educational institutions created in her honor.
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