Mary McLeod Bethune becomes first Black American honored in U.S. Capitol’s Statuary Hall

Each state has two statues representing them in the U.S. Capitol. Florida lawmakers voted to remove one of theirs, a statue representing a Confederate general, and replace it with a statue of Bethune.

Joining me now is her granddaughter, Evelyn Bethune.

And, Evelyn, your grandmother is especially known for her pioneering and relentless work in education. That is why she is depicted in the U.S. Capitol as wearing a cap and gown. In fact, she created what would become the Bethune-Cookman University starting with just $1.50. It ultimately became a historically Black university.

Tell us more about what she did.

Evelyn Bethune, Granddaughter of Mary McLeod Bethune: Well, I think the key element is to know that in order for her to found the school, she had to be a great organizer and fund-raiser.

Bethune-Cookman University sits on what was the city garbage dump, which was the only land they would give her, let her purchase during that time, because women were not really allowed, women, Black or white, were not allowed to vote, make decisions, buy property or anything, unless a man gave them permission or assisted them.

And so for her to acquire this property for $250, and work out a deal, because she only had $1.50, was quite amazing for that time period.

But my grandmother took those skills and she built relationships with people like the Roosevelts, and she made sure that she was able to organize communities and people to vote once the vote was given to women. She registered women to vote across this country. She founded the National Council of Negro Women, which is an organization that was made up of women in leadership in the organizations within their communities.

And, at one point, they had over five million women in their membership. That is a huge voting block. And with that carries a lot of power.