Mary McLeod Bethune
American educator and civil rights leader (1875-1955) · United States · On the map · Educators · Died at 79
Mary McLeod Bethune was an American educator, philanthropist, humanitarian, womanist, and civil rights activist. Bethune founded the National Council of Negro Women in 1935, and proceeded to establish the Aframerican Women's Journal, which was the flagship journal of the organization.
Mary McLeod Bethune is read about 318 times a day, in 27 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 9 November 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 108 days, one point a day.
Something wrong?A life in dates
People around Mary
Close ties
Media & music
Photos 9
The cabin in Mayesville, South Carolina, where Mary Jane McLeod was born
Bethune with girls from her Daytona school, c. 1905
Bethune and Marian Anderson, celebrated contralto, at the launching of the SS Booker T. Washington
Mary McLeod Bethune (left) and Eleanor Roosevelt (center), year 1943
Painting of Bethune by Betsy Graves Reyneau
The Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site in Washington, D.C.
A painting of Bethune on display at the World Methodist Museum, Lake Junaluska, North CarolinaAwards
About this person
She presided over other African-American women's organizations, including the National Association for Colored Women. Shortly after joining the National Youth Administration in 1935, Bethune became the first Black woman to lead a federal agency when she was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as the head of a department within the NYA.
