Mary Jane McLeod Bethune: a Model of Dignity

Mary McLeod Bethune was a tireless educator of black women and founded Bethune-Cookman University. Mary McLeod Bethune also heavily involved in politics and is well known for being Civil Rights Leader.

Born on July 10, 1875 in South Carolina, to former slaves, Mary Jane McLeod was the fifteens of seventeen children. She attended a one-room schoolhouse run by the Presbyterian Board of Missions and Freedmen. She then was given a scholarship to Scotia Seminary for Negro Girls in Concord, North Carolina (Barber-Scotia College). She graduated in 1894. Her plan was to become a missionary in Africa did not happen because black missionaries were not needed, so she became a teacher instead.

Her first teaching position was at a Presbyterian mission school in Augusta Georgia. The school founder Lucy Craft Laney emphasized character and practical education for girls. Mary was inspired by Laney's passion and ideals. In 1904, she started her first training school for Negro girls in Daytona Florida with six girls and $1.50. The school received donations from black churches and used fundraisers to survive. Education at Mary McLeod Bethune's school was rigorous. Girls rose at 5:30 am for Bible Study, spent their days learning dressmaking, millinery, cooking, and other lessons needed for self-sufficiency. They also were taught math, English, science, and foreign languages. The girls' day ended at 9pm. The enrollment of her school was at 10 by 1910. The school quickly grew and merged with the Cookman Institute for men in 1923. The new school, The Bethune Cookman Institute was the best Negro school in Florida. Bethune spent most of her time seeking funding for the school. During this time, she became friends with the Roosevelt's, who donated a great deal of money to the school. She gave up school presidency in 1942 as the role was affecting her health.