In 1904, Bethune opened the Daytona Literary and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls with $1.50, faith in God and five little girls. The school grew over the years to ultimately become one of the nation’s most beloved HBCUs. More than 14,000 students have graduated and are employed in the fields of education, medicine, business, politics, government, science, religion, athletics and environmental sciences.
Bethune served as an advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and established the Black Cabinet, where she served as its only female member. Bethune was a humanitarian, philanthropist, businesswoman, political activist and champion of education, who once said, “We have a powerful potential in our youth, and we must have the courage to change old ideas and practices so that we may direct their power toward good ends.”
An influential educator, stateswoman and civil rights activist who was far ahead of her time, Bethune will be formally recognized later this year when a statue of her becomes part of the National Statuary Hall Collection in the Capitol Rotunda. Her inclusion marks the first African American to have a state-commissioned statue in Statuary Hall.
To learn more about “Advancing the Legacy,” please contact Ashley Stoekel, director of development in the Division of Institutional Advancement at Bethune-Cookman University, at 386-481-2972 or email [email protected].
