Mary Bethune Home & Memorial
Mary McLeod Bethune founded the National Council for Negro Women, an organization that aims to advance the quality of life of African-American women and their families.
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Mary Bethune Home and Memorial
The Mary McLeod Bethune Council House, located in the Logan Circle neighborhood, preserves the home of Bethune, an African-American educator, stateswoman, philanthropist, and civil rights activist. She founded the National Council for Negro Women, an organization that aims to advance the quality of life of African-American women and their families.
The house in Washington DC became the council’s first headquarters. The NCNW occupied the first and second floors, while Bethune lived on the third floor. The house still preserves the remaining of Bethune’s personal belongings after a fire destroyed some of her original furnishings. Aside from Bethune’s life, the house and the archives celebrate the lives of women who have made significant contributions to the African-American community.
Not far away from the Bethune Council House is Lincoln Park, where the Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial stands. The monument to this great educator and civil rights activist is the first memorial in honor of an African-American woman to be erected in a public park in Washington DC. The monument depicts an elderly Mary McLeod Bethune leaning on a cane handing a scroll to two children. The gesture symbolize the knowledge and love for learning she handed down to the youth so that they learn the value of education.
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Interesting Facts on the Mary Bethune Home and Memorial
- The Mary Mcleod Bethune Memorial depicts her holding a cane. The cane she is holding is said to represent the cane that First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt gave to her.
- The carriage house attached to the main Bethune House contained the National Archives for Black Women’s History.
- The floor plan of the home remains unchanged from the days when Bethune lived there, and most of the furnishings are original to the home and owned by Bethune and the NCNW.