Heroes & Trailblazers

• Made great progress for African-Americans in the field of education and civil rights
• Consultant to four presidents; most significantly FDR for establishing the Federal Council on Negro Affairs
• First black leader and first woman to have a monument in a public park in Washington DC (1974)
• In 1989, Ebony Magazine included Mary McLeod Bethune as one of 50 Most Important Figures in Black History

Mary McLeod Bethune was one of 17 children born to former slaves, Samuel and Patsy McLeod. The family lived in Mayesville, South Carolina, and growing up, Mary worked in the cotton fields along with the whole family.