Mary McLeod Bethune Educator and Republican

Mary McLeod Bethune Educator and Black Republican



Mary McLeod Bethune was an educator, presidential advisor, civil rights advocate, and one of America's most influential African American leaders. As former slaves, Bethune's parents were determined that she accept an offer from a Quaker woman to attend school when few educational opportunities were available to African Americans.

Bethune founded a school for African-American girls in Daytona, Florida, which in 1923 became the co-educational Bethune-Cookman College. As college president until 1942, her efforts gained tremendous recognition. Bethune became a national leader and united all major black women's organizations across the nation into one powerful group, the National Council of Negro Women. As its president for 14 years, Bethune led campaigns against segregation and discrimination. Presidents Coolidge, Hoover, Roosevelt and Truman sought her advice on issues concerning black Americans, and Franklin Roosevelt appointed her director of the Division of Negro Affairs of the National Youth Administration. She was the first black woman to ever head a federal agency

http://www.nationalblackrepublicans.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=pages.BlackGOP&x=424351#Mary%20McLeod%20Bethune