Born 10 July 1875, near Mayesville, South Carolina; died 18 May 1955, Daytona, Florida

Daughter of Samuel and Patsy McLeod; married AlbertusBethune, 1898

Born to former slaves, Mary McLeod Bethune realized early the importance of education in improving the quality of life. Upon graduating from Mayesville Institute, she attended Scotia Seminary in Concord, North Carolina, and pursued further studies at Moody Institute in Chicago. Two black women, Emma Wilson, Bethune's first teacher, and Lucy Laney, her first principal and employer, inspired her by giving her an educational opportunity and by serving as models in opening schools for blacks. Moreover, the teachers at Scotia taught her about the evils of discrimination. Following these examples, Bethune devoted her life to offering others educational opportunities and to combating "color, caste and class distinctions."

After marrying, Bethune taught in mission schools in the South, and in 1904 she opened the Daytona Educational and Industrial School for Training Negro Girls; in 1923 the school merged with Cookman Institute and became Bethune-Cookman College, and Bethune remained head of the school until 1942.

It was as an educator and founder of a school that Bethune first achieved recognition, but she refused to confine her talent and effort to one institution or to one group of people—she became a national and international leader in the cause of equality, peace, and brotherhood. In 1920 she was elected to the Executive Board of the National Urban League. In "The Problems of the City Dweller" (Opportunity, 3 Feb. 1925), Bethune pointed out the discrepancy between the El Dorado of the "country lad's dreams" and the economic, social, and educational oppression found in urban centers. She urged the Urban League to focus attention on the problems of the city dweller, calling equally for the "breaking down of racial barriers" and for the aiding of immigrants.

Bethune served as...