This February, CentroNía is spotlighting black educators to celebrate Black History Month!
We want to highlight pioneers who paved the way for black educators and students and one important trailblazer is Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune.
Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune was a leading educator and civil rights activist. She was born in 1875 in South Carolina and was one of 17 children born to parents who were previously enslaved.
Photo by Carl Van Vechten
She became the only child in her family to go to school and eventually graduated from what is now Barber-Scotia College. She continued her studies at the Dwight Moody’s Institute for Home and Foreign Missions in Chicago and once receiving her degree, returned to the south to become an educator.
She believed that being educated provided the key to racial advancement which led to her establishing the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute for Negro Girls in Daytona, Florida in 1904. The school started with just five young girls and her own five-year-old son. Soon, the school's popularity rose, leading to an enrollment of over 250 students. It also lead to it expanding its curriculum, eventually offering courses for older students such as high school level math and much more.
Dr. Bethune served as their president and remained so even after its merger with the Cookman Institute for Men in the 1920’s. The school was then known as the Bethune-Cookman College and became widely known as one of the few institutions to allow African American students receive a college degree.
Dr. Bethune's establishment and commitment to education gave the chance to many to succeed academically, from young students to adults in college. Her work in education further reiterates her status as a true pioneer in the education sector.
Photo by McGhiever
After stepping back from her duties at Bethune-Cookman, Dr. Bethune embarked in many more missions dedicated to causes she devoted her life to. She eventually founded her own civil rights organization, the National Council of Negro Women whose headquarters was located right here in the DMV, in a townhouse in Northwest Washington DC.
Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune was a leading figure and educator for the black and African American community. What started as a school for young girls to then transforming to hundreds of men and women receiving a college education, showcases her legacy in early childhood education and education all together.