Civil rights icon Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune honored with D.C. statue
MIAMI - A piece of Florida history is now part of our nation's capital.
Civil rights icon, educator and women's rights activist Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune was honored Wednesday as her statue was unveiled at Statuary Hall.
She is the first African American to have a state-commissioned statue in the National Statuary Hall.
The statue is 11 feet tall and it features Bethune wearing a cap and gown and holding a black rose representing the students she educated.
"I was born and raised in Florida and I remember as a little girl listening to my mother and my father talk about a Black woman, a woman who looked like us, who started a college, an institution of higher learning in Florida. As I listened to my parents tell the story it seemed impossible but Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune made what seemed impossible, possible," said Rep. Val Demings of Florida's 10th Congressional District.
Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune also lived at a time of division and accomplished what many said could not be done. When Blacks were denied education she built a school.
"As many of you know in 1904 she started a school with six students, one of which was her son Albert with a $1.50 and then went on to serve our university for over three decades. Today our students and thousands of higher proud graduates around the world are living examples of her work," said Dr. Lawrence M Drake II, the Interim President of Bethune-Cookman University.
Bethune was an advisor to four American presidents. She believed education was crucial to racial advancement and devoted her life to equal rights and building peace among people.
"Well I am proud to be a Floridian this morning because people of the state of Florida have sent the great educator and civil rights leader Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune to represent our dynamic and diverse state," said Rep. Kathy Castor.
Her statue is chiseled from marble quarried from Michelangelo's cave in Tuscany. A bronze version of the statue will also be installed in Daytona Beach, Florida.