Born in South Carolina to parents who had been slaves, Mary McLeod (m. Bethune) was first interested in education, eventually founding a school for African American girls in Daytona Beach, Florida. The school eventually merged with a boys school to form the Bethune-Cookman College, a coeducational junior college where she would serve as President at a time when few women held that position. She was appointed as a national adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and helped create the Federal Council on Negro Affairs, later known as the Black Cabinet.
Throughout her life, Bethune was extremely active in women’s organizations, founding the National Council for Negro Women and its journal Aframerican Women’s Journal, as well as taking leadership roles in other women’s organizations, including the National Association for Colored Women and National Youth Administration’s Negro Division. She has been referred to as “First Lady of Negro America” and as the “Female Booker T. Washington,” both in honor of her lifetime commitment to activism.
