Heroine Mary McLeod Bethune example essay topic

Educator, Leader, Heroine Mary McLeod Bethune "I leave you love... I leave you hope... I leave you a thirst for education... I leave you a responsibility to our young people" That was exactly what Mary McLeod Bethune did. She was a black woman with a dream and a passion for education. Throughout Mary Bethune's accomplishments, which spanned her lifetime she remained focused on changing the lives of black women during a difficult time in history.

She never lost sight of the causes or concerns she believed in; equal opportunity for everyone especially African Americans. Mary Bethune was a woman compelled to be educated. Along with school and fieldwork, she still found time to teach her siblings to read and write. Mary was awarded a scholarship to Scotia Seminary in North Carolina, and later with to the Moody Bible Institute where she graduated. Afterwards, Mary became a teacher, married Albertus Bethune and settled in Daytona Florida.

Mary Bethune believed that black children weren't getting a quality education. Her dream was to start a school of her own. She bought a dumpster for $1.50 and opened a school. The school opened with five girls and her son with a tuition was fifty cents a week. James M. Gamble of Proctor and Gamble was so impressed with Mary's determination that he donated $150.00 grant to the school. Quickly the enrollment went from 6 students to 250.

Mary's school would later become the Bethune-Cookman College. In spite of her full schedule Mary Bethune was always earning money for her school by holding concerts and writing articles. She was so dedicated and determined to keep her school running that she rode her bike to different churches, clubs and organizations asking for donations. Mary believed in equal rights for black people. Wonderfully she founded the National Council for Negroes, which was an organization that worked for the rights of Negroes in America. Also she forced John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore Maryland to hire black physicians.

Mary McLeod Bethune was a personal friend of President Franklin Roosevelt; She personally knew Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Harry Truman, and Dwight E. Eisenhower. Because of her friendship with Roosevelt, Mary was appointed to a special council of the National Youth Association. Another one of her accomplishments was to receive a $500,000 grant for the housing projects in Florida. Mary was always concerned about the equal rights of all people. She was against every sort of racial prejudice.

Promptly she petitioned President Roosevelt to take action on behalf of Jewish victims, when the Newman berg laws of 1935 were passed. Along with other issues, Along with other issues, Mary worked very hard to improve the status of black women and to promote job interest. Mary McLeod Bethune was an educator and leader, she had a limitless drive to see all people, (men, women, children) of all nationalities be treated equally. She was a heroine who touched the lives of many. Indeed, she will not be forgotten..