Legend Spotlights

Mary Mcleod Bethune

An American civil rights leader and educator. Bethune is best known for starting a school in Daytona Beach Florida, that would eventually become known as Bethune Cookman University.

Born in South Carolina , she was the daughter of former slaves who were farmers. Bethune took an early interest in education with the hopes of becoming a teacher or a missionary. When her hopes of becoming a missionary did not materialize, she moved to Daytona Florida. Surrounded by a neighborhood with crime and limited educational facilities it ignited the missionary spirit in her.

In 1904 she opened the doors of her Daytona Normal and Industrial school for girls. In time the school would merge with the nearby Cook Institute for boys and would become a fully accredited coeducational college in 1943 known as Bethune Cookman University.