Overview:
Mary McLeod Bethune, a daughter of formerly enslaved people, rose above hardships to found Bethune-Cookman University, emphasizing education for Black students. She also founded schools and institutes, and served in various roles, including as the first African-American woman to lead a federal agency and as the NAACP's Vice President. Her legacy teaches us that knowledge is power and that education leads to greater progress. In today's time, where Black disparities range from teacher representation to technology gaps, Bethune's words ring true: "Knowledge is the prime need of the hour."
“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.” –
Mary mcleod Bethune
If there is anything that Mary McLeod Bethune left behind, it is the necessity of education in this world. As the daughter of formerly enslaved people, she rose above all hardships and left behind Bethune-Cookman University, today, an NCAA Division I HBCU that first opened its doors on October 3, 1904. Since its founding, this institution has served thousands of Black students who want to conquer higher education.
Bethune herself attended and graduated from Barber Scotia College (formerly Scotia Seminary) and the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. Throughout her years as an educator, she taught in schools in the South, emphasizing education, especially at a time when little Black children were barely permitted a proper classroom for lessons.
On October 3, 1904, she opened the Daytona Literary and Industrial Training Institute for Negro Girls. In two years, her school went from five young female students to two hundred and fifty students. But her pursuit of education for young Black learners didn’t stop there. She also founded the Mary McLeod Hospital and Training School for Nurses, addressing the growing need for adequate health training among Black medical students.
Aside from being a famed educator, numerous U.S. presidents called upon Bethune for her expertise and strategy. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed her to the National Youth Administration, making her the first African-American woman to lead a federal agency. She was the only female member of his “Black Cabinet,” and the only woman of color at the United Nations founding conference. In 1951, President Harry Truman appointed her to the Committee of Twelve for National Defense, and she assisted in officer candidate selection for the Women’s Army Corps.
But her work didn’t stop with education and presidential-appointed roles. It merely elevated her platform in the fight for African Americans’ civil rights.
Bethune founded the National Council of Negro Women in 1935. Less than a decade later, she served as the NAACP’s Vice President from 1940-1955. In addition, Bethune also received recognition from Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, an organization where she was inducted as an honorary member at the sorority’s 5th National Convention in 1923.
At the core of Bethune’s work was the fight for Black people’s educational rights and freedom. Her schools and institutes were founded not because she needed the money or sought an eternity of laurels handed to her from her community, but because she believed in the foundation that education is what makes progress and change.
As of 2025, we live in a tumultuous time where HBCUs, institutions that serve as cornerstones for Black higher education, are being threatened with the potential loss of federal funding. Now, programs and initiatives such as TRIO SSS and Pell grants are potentially being cut by an administration that is threatening institutions for any DEI or inclusive programming that they may have.
In today’s time, Bethune would be shocked to hear that Black disparities now range from teacher representation, to technology gaps to even the health of students, which contributes to hurting a student’s overall learning experience.
So what can we learn from Mary McLeod Bethune’s legacy? How would she tackle the mounting inequities for Black students during these current circumstances?
Bethune’s story teaches us that we must never give up the fight for education. It teaches us that knowledge is a powerful tool. When an individual has the right education and facts, you can not easily force conformity or fake news on them. Bethune, like many other educators, knows that knowledge truly is power. In any society.
Bethune was the first person in her family to not be a slave, and she created a legacy of activism, philanthropy, and humanitarianism. She fought continuously and did not let anything stop her. She is remembered not by her many accolades, but as a woman who knew the importance of proper education and how it leads to greater progress.
Knowing the history of America, even the parts that are constantly being erased, informs people of the present how to be active and effective leaders. Knowing the history of slaves, the Civil Rights Movement, Jim Crow, etc., encourages people not to forget about the past but to know how not to repeat it.
In a time where being educated is considered a punishment and not an accolade, let Mary McLeod Bethune’s words ring true: “Knowledge is the prime need of the hour.”
