Mary McLeod Bethune was a passionate educator and presidential advisor. In her long career of public service, she became one of the earliest black female activists that helped lay the foundation to the modern civil rights movement. After the event, Bethune hitched a ride with the young poet back to New York City.
In the time of Jim Crow, where Black travelers were required to carry an Automobile Blue Book that listed the way stops in which African Americans were allowed to stop for meals, restrooms, or for sleeping accommodations, Hughes noted that Bethune avoided much of the indignity of segregated facilities along the long road to New York.
Bethune passed their way. They knew a heaping platter of southern fried chicken would be made in her honor. Such popularity followed Bethune through much of her 60 years of public service. During that time, she wore many hats including educator, community organizer, public policy advisor, public health advocate, advisor to the President of the United States, patriot, and of course mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.
Drawing of Samuel and Patsy McLeod. Parents of Mary McLeod. Mary McLeod Bethune was born in , number 15 of 17 children of former slaves, during the genesis of Jim Crow and the anti-Black violence that would ultimately plague the South for the duration of her life. Deeply religious, they encouraged their curious daughter to attend a mission school where she thrived. Her marriage to Albertus was a tumultuous nine years.
The family moved from Savannah, Georgia to Palatka, Florida, where she worked in a small mission school. A few short years later in , her marriage ended when Albertus abandoned the family and returned to South Carolina. Although they never divorced, Bethune listed herself as a widow in the census. However, her estranged husband did not die until In , Bethune successfully negotiated the merger of her school in Daytona with the Cookman Institute in Jacksonville, Florida. Together, they created the coeducational four year Bethune-Cookman College.
