Mary McCloud Bethune and Eleanor Roosevelt - by Nan Brooks
Mary McCloud Bethune and Eleanor Roosevelt
Allies and Friends
Continuing the thread to honor teachers this week with another of my sheroes.
Mary McCloud Bethune and Eleanor Roosevelt were allies in
their work for equality and empowerment of Black women, and they were friends
with genuine affection and admiration for each other. Eleanor interviewed Mrs. Bethune in 1949 for a
radio broadcast for interracial understanding. The recording, at www.wnyc.org/story/209566-mary-mcleod-bethune/
is typical of the time. Their speech is formal and very carefully enunciated,
but the warmth between them comes through.
They met in 1927 and remained friends and colleagues until
Mrs. Bethune’s death in 1955. By that time, Bethune was established as an
African-American leader. She has been described as one of the five most leaders important in Black U.S. history of the
early to mid 20th century. Eleanor Roosevelt’s support brought her
to the attention of Franklin Roosevelt, who appointed her to influential
positions and she led his (unofficial) Black Cabinet. These nineteen men and one
woman (Bethune), advised FDR so that Black citizens benefitted from the New
Deal as part of national recovery from the great depression in the early 30’s.
A list of Mrs. Bethune’s accomplishments is below, but I
want to talk about two of my favorite stories about her and Eleanor:
In 1938 the Southern Conference for Human Welfare was held
in Birmingham, Alabama. It was promoted as an opportunity for southern
progressives such as labor leaders, industrialists, farmers, sharecroppers, social
executives, government officials, ministers, and politicians to meet and
develop mutual trust. One of the featured speakers was the First Lady, Eleanor
Roosevelt. Another was Mary McCloud Bethune. During her speech, Mrs. Roosevelt
scolded Congressman Luther Patrick in person for his opposition to the
anti-lynching bill before congress. (Some things are slow to change!).
The Monday afternoon meeting of the Conference was
interrupted by Bull Connor, who was commissioner of public safety in
Birmingham. He instructed the audience not to “segregate together” and demanded
that white and African-American delegates sit on opposite sides of the center
aisle. (The same Bull Connor became prominent in the 1960’s civil rights
movement, known for violence against Blacks.) In an act of defiance, Eleanor
pulled her chair into the center of that aisle and Mrs. Bethune joined her
there. It sounds like a small gesture, but the First Lady was clearly making a
statement and that action remains a part of the history of the organization.
Both Eleanor and FDR were fond of Mary Bethune, who was
often invited to the White House for social occasions as well as official
meetings. When FDR died, Eleanor sent one of his canes to Mrs. Bethune as a
memento. Mrs. Bethune used a cane in her later years for support as she walked
and, sometimes, along with a flowing cape, as a part of her majestic bearing.
In the late 1980’s I found the rowhouse in Washington DC where the Mary Bethune
museum was to be created. There were no signs on the building, as I recall, and
the staff were just getting organized in the offices. The director was very
gracious and showed us around, even in the storage areas. I spotted a tall box
with umbrellas in it and dared to poke around in it. “There it is!” I fairly
shouted, and startled the director, “This
is the walking stick of FDR’s that Eleanor gave Mary Bethune when he died.” Sure
enough, his initials were engraved on the gold head. The director was amazed;
no one had known it was there or had known about the gift from 1945. You can learn about the Mary McCloud Bethune Council
House here: www.nps.gov/nr/travel/wash/dc62.htm
I like to imagine Eleanor as she chose a gift for her friend
as a mark of FDR’s admiration. I like to imagine, too, what sort of
conversations she and Mary Bethune must have had as they traveled and worked
together. They came from such different
worlds, but met at a time when their differing experiences could make the country
better. And they had more in common than it might appear.
Eleanor was from a world of money, but had little affection
growing up. She longed for an education, but did not attend school until she
was 17 and sent to England to Allenswood, a progressive school for young women
of privilege from all over the world.
Mary McCloud was the 15th of 17 children and the first in her
family born into freedom. In fact, the
exact number of her brothers and sisters is unknown because some had been sold by
slave masters. It was said that Mary was born with her eyes open, a sign that
she would see the future, would know what was to come. One day while she was
helping her mother deliver clean laundry to a white family, she picked up a
child’s book and was quickly ordered to put it down. “You can’t read!” the white
woman said. In that moment, young Mary knew that a difference between
dark-skinned and light-skinned people was that the light-skinned ones were
allowed to read. Her path was set then and there.
Eventually, she was offered a place at the Trinity Mission
School, run by the Presbyterian Board of Missions. She was 10 years old and walked
five miles to and from school every day. She immediately began to teach the
rest of her family to read. Her teacher, Emma Jane Wilson, made it possible for
young Mary to attend Backer-Scotia College. When she moved on to Moody Bible
Institute, her goal was to be a missionary to Africa, but she was turned down,
apparently for two reasons. She was told there was “no room for Negro
missionaries to African” and what’s more, single women were not allowed either.
Mary soon married Albertus Bethune, but they apparently
lived separately for most of their marriage and he died in 1918. To further her
determination to educate children as she had been, Mrs. Bethune moved to
Daytona, Florida and started a school for Black children. She began with $1.50
and at one point stood on street corners, asking for dimes and quarters from neighbors
to fund the education of their daughters. She learned from Booker T. Washington
to appeal to wealthy donors. One story is that she stopped a well-dress man on
the street and asked him for money for her school, which he demanded to see. So
she invited him for a tour of the modest school and showed him the one sewing
machine that was used to teach girls to sew. The man was impressed because it
was a White brand, and he was Mr. White, the owner of the manufacturing company
that made the machine. He immediately gave her a sum of money.
Mrs. Bethune with her students
Some leaders criticized the school, named the Bethune Educational
and Industrial School for Girls, because they thought the emphasis should be on
the liberal arts and not on vocational training. Mrs. Bethune insisted that
both were necessary so that the girls could support themselves and their
families if necessary.
The school was soon targeted by the local Ku Klux Klan and
riders appeared on horseback with burning torches. Mrs. Bethune was away and the
riders left quickly, having made their threat. A few nights later, they came
again. The older girls were instructed to be sure the younger girls were in bed
and could not see the torches. Mrs. Bethune stood in the small courtyard in
front of the school as they men rode up and let her know they intended to burn
the place to the ground. She did not move, and the men rode off. One version of
the story is that she called some of the men by name, saying that she
recognized their boots or their horses. In any case, there she stood in her
flowing cape, and the men rode on. Another version of the story is that the
Klansmen knew that a large group of armed Black men was waiting to take action
if they damage the school. Such a group of Black men would have been dangerous
and their determination to defend the school is a mark of their esteem for Mrs.
Bethune.
On Sundays, she opened the school to the community and
tourists, featuring Black guest speakers and displaying the accomplishments of her
students. Her school eventually became Bethune College and later, when a local
college for men was struggling to stay afloat, it became Bethune Cookman
College.
Mover and Shaker in the Halls of Power - and beyond
Here are the accomplishments and the contributions to racial
justice by one individual woman, an educator, philanthropist, humanitarian,
civil rights activist, and advisor to at least three presidents, a woman who
was determined to make a difference:
o Founded the National Council for Negro Women in
1935, an organization for 28 women’s clubs around the country, all of which
worked on one way or another to empower, educate, and support Black women.
o
Raised the money and opened a hospital for Black
patients in Daytona, where hospitals would not admit African-Americans. She
began with a cabin and two beds and within two years had a better building and
20 beds. The hospital and its racially integrated staff saved many lives over
the next twenty years.
o
Served as head of the National Youth
Administration Division of Negro Affairs and was the financial manager as well.
In that position she saw to it that the Civilian Pilot Training Program included black pilots.
o
Served as the sole African American woman on the
U.S. delegation that created the United Nations.
o
Was a leader and advisor to the Women’s
Army Auxillary Corps.
o
Formed the Federal Council of Negro Affairs,
which became known as the Black Cabinet during the Franklin Roosevelt administration. https://livingnewdeal.org/tag/black-cabinet/
o
Wrote for the Pittsburgh Courier, Aframerican
Women’s Journal, the Chicago Defender, and other publications.
o
Pushed to integrate the Methodist Episcopal Church.
More about Mary McCloud Bethune and Eleanor Roosevelt can be found here: https://erpapers.columbian.gwu.edu/mary-mcleod-bethune-1875-1955-0
and here:
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