Features
The Untold Stories of Black History
The Knightly News is highlighting nine Black and African Americans across various fields who have broken barriers and distinguished themselves through their lives and careers.
Mary McLeod Bethune
Mary McLeod Bethune left her mark in various areas of American society: education, politics, and activism. In 1904, she founded a private school for Black girls in Daytona Beach, Florida, that would eventually become Bethune-Cookman University. She dedicated much of her work to securing rights for both women and Black Americans as president of the National Association of Women’s Colored Clubs in 1924. In 1940, she became the vice president of the National Associated for the Advancement of Colored Persons (NAACP). Bethune also held considerable political influence during a time when African Americans were routinely disenfranchised. Under Franklin D. Roosevelt, she organized conferences on issues that Black children were facing and advocated for the integration of the Women’s Army Corps, and under Harry S. Truman, she was the only non-white woman to attend the founding conference of the United Nations in 1945. Four years later, Ebony magazine deemed her the “First Lady of Negro American” for a lifetime of activism dedicated on bettering the rights of both women and Black Americans.
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