Mary McLeod Bethune

Hello! My name is Mary McLeod Bethune, and I want to tell you my story. I was born on a farm in South Carolina on July 10th, 1875. My parents, Samuel and Patsy, had been enslaved, and I was one of seventeen children! Growing up, we worked hard picking cotton, but what I wanted most of all was to learn how to read. When a school for Black children opened nearby, I was the first person in my family to go. It felt like magic to see the letters make words. Every day after school, I would rush home to teach my brothers, sisters, and even my parents everything I had learned.

Learning was like a bright light, and I wanted to share it with everyone. I knew that many African American children, especially girls, didn't have a place to go to school. So, I decided to build one myself! In 1904, I moved to Daytona, Florida, and started my school with just five little girls and one dollar and fifty cents. We didn't have much. Our first classroom was in a small, rented house. We used burnt wood for pencils and juice from elderberries for ink. We found old wooden crates and turned them into desks and chairs. People in the community saw how hard we were working and came to help us build a real school building, brick by brick.

My little school grew and grew! It joined with another school and eventually became a college, which is called Bethune-Cookman University today. But I didn't stop there. I wanted to help all Black people have a better life. I started a group in 1935 called the National Council of Negro Women to help women's voices be heard. I even went to Washington, D.C., to work with the President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt. I gave him advice on how to make our country a fairer place for everyone, no matter the color of their skin.

I worked my whole life to plant seeds of hope and knowledge. I lived to be 79 years old, and I was so proud to see how much my dreams had grown. Today, the university I started is still teaching students, and the groups I created are still helping people. I hope you remember that education is the key to opening any door and that you, too, have the power to make the world a better place for everyone.