Known during her lifetime as the “First Lady of Negro America,” Mary McLeod Bethune is remembered for her contributions as an educator and civil rights activist. Although the founding of Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida, is probably her most well-known accomplishment, it is one of many.
In addition to being one of the first women to have established a historically Black college, Bethune was also very politically and socially involved at both national and international levels. She did not tolerate discrimination and continually fought for the rights of herself and others, whether the issue was voting rights, civil rights, or human rights. Although not a native, she called Daytona Beach her home for most of her life.
Mary Jane McLeod was born on July 10, 1875, in Mayesville, S.C. She was the 15th of 17 children born to her formerly enslaved parents, Samuel and Patsy McLeod, and was the first in her family born into freedom as well as the first to receive a formal education. However, before being given the opportunity to attend school, she helped support her family by picking cotton to sell, as many Black families did after slavery was abolished.
When Mary was around ten years old, she began her schooling at the Trinity Presbyterian Mission School in Mayesville. She proved to be a bright student who loved to learn. She once said, “The whole world opened up to me when I learned to read.”