|
|
|
Civil Rights Leaders
Use these links to return to the page you got here from or to investigate other issues related to this topic. If the Civil Rights Movement is new to you, you can visit our dictionary page from any page in the entire web site by clicking here.
Reporter: This is Weekly News, and reporting tonight: Jane Marcus. Our top story: Mrs. Mary Mcleod Bethune, a woman who has fought for children of her color, black children, who want to learn and get a good job when they get older. Mrs. Bethune, will you please come out? Mary: Hi! I'm so glad to be here. Reporter: Mrs. Bethune, is it true that you were the fifteenth child born out of seventeen? Mary: Why, yes. I was also the first child born in my family who was not a Reporter: Wow! You must have had an easy childhood. Mary: Not really. I will admit I did get to go to an all black school while the others had to work, but I studied hard, and that's why I can read and write today. As you know, life was not easy for an African American back then. One child thought my skin was dirty and told me to clean it off. I told her it was just the color of my skin, but she didn't believe me. Reporter: That was mean! Mary: I know, but that is how Blacks were treated then. She was only a child who learned to treat Blacks like that from her parents. Reporter: What do you think was your greatest accomplishment? Mary: I think my greatest accomplishment was that I created an all black
school, so that Blacks would be allowed to go to school. Reporter: Since you came from parents who were slaves, did you feel the need to get into Civil Rights? Mary: No, I just wanted to help African Americans. The real person who inspired me was Miss Emma Wilson, my first teacher. My parents also helped, because if they wouldn't have sent me to school I would never have known Miss Wilson as I do now. She inspired me, because all the students, including me, said she was a living example of what you can achieve when you have education in your life. Also, she was called "Miss" Wilson, and I had never met a black American who used "Miss," "Mr.," or "Mrs." before their last name. Back then, it was an honor to have a "Miss," "Mr.," or "Mrs." before your last name. Reporter: Now, on to another question: How did you change the lives of others? Mary: I think I changed the lives of others by being an advisor to Franklin
D. Roosevelt. When Congress warned that the $100,000 graduate training Reporter: Mary, what do you feel was your greatest honor or award? Mary: I think my greatest award was in 1935 when I received the Spingarn Reporter: This is my final question. What do you think people will remember you for? Mary: I think people will remember me for making a school that Black Americans can go to, not just Whites. Also, I think people will remember me for being an important influence on the president and making a difference in Black Americans' lives. Reporter: Thank you, Mrs. Mary Mcleod Bethune, for answering all these
questions. Mary: You're welcome, but I should really thank you for helping me learn that I did do a lot of great things. Reporter: Thanks again. Mary: Bye! 2 Years Later Reporter: Sadly, Mrs. Mary McLeod Bethune died on May 18, 1955, of a heart attack. She was buried on the grounds of The Retreat, her school farm. Her gravestone was simply marked, "Mother." In her will Mary wrote, "I leave you, finally, a responsibility to our young people." Mary McLeod Bethune Timeline
|
|
If you want to be absolutely certain you've looked at every page on our website, check out our site map.
This website is designed to be viewed using Microsoft's Internet Explorer 4.0 or above. |
slave. I wasn't a slave, because the Emancipation Proclamation, signed by 
For example, in
Daytona, Florida, they did not have a school for Blacks, so I tried to make one.
fund
would be cut from the budget, I told President Roosevelt: "Think what a
terrible tragedy it would be for America, if, by this action by a committee of
Congress, Negroes would be deprived of the leadership of skilled and trained
members of their race!" Because of this, President Roosevelt asked Congress
to think about what I had said. The next week Congress approved the funding for
the graduate training program. I also affected others' lives by helping African
Americans go to school and learn what they need to learn to get a good job and
vote wisely.
Medal. Awarded by the NAACP, the medal honors the highest achieving American
Negro of the previous year. I feel it was my greatest honor because it was for
helping black youth. I helped black youth by creating a school and by being a
teacher at the school.
