Bethune to be honored at Capitol

U.S. House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn will join other congressional leaders next week in Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol for a statue dedication and unveiling ceremony honoring Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune.

An 11-foot, 3-ton marble statue will become part of the National Statuary Hall Collection, making Bethune the first African American woman to represent a state in Statuary Hall in the United States Capitol.

“As a young child, my mother revered Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune and had me learn all that I could about her. With this statue placement, her legacy as a pioneering educator and fearless civil rights activist will be forever cemented in American history, and visitors from around the world will have the opportunity to learn her story and all she did to advance the cause for Black equality,” Clyburn said in a release.

Born in Mayesville, South Carolina on July 10, 1875, to former slaves, Bethune was a champion of racial and gender equality, a fearless civil and human rights activist, and an education advocate.

Bethune was afforded the rare opportunity to receive an education, which she would later use to emphasize the importance of education in the African American community by teaching at schools in both Georgia and South Carolina. Throughout her life, Bethune served as an advisor to several United States presidents and served as a member of President Franklin Roosevelt’s unofficial “Black cabinet.”

During his presidency, Harry Truman recognized the impact of Bethune and appointed her as an envoy to Liberia.

In 1904, Bethune opened the Daytona Beach Literary and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls, which would later become known as Bethune-Cookman College, a historically Black college and university located in Daytona Beach, Florida.

To honor her trailblazing impact, Florida lawmakers passed legislation in 2018 to replace a Confederate general sent to the Capitol with a statue of Bethune.

The ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, July 13. To view the live stream of the ceremony, visit www.speaker.gov/live.