Washington, D.C.: A dark cloth slides off a new sculpture in Statuary Hall. What’s underneath? A towering statue of Mary McLeod Bethune.

Mrs. Bethune was a teacher, college president, and much more. She was born in South Carolina in 1875. Her parents had been enslaved. Mary was their first child to be born free.

Times were terribly hard for black people during Mrs. Bethune’s lifetime. When she grew up, Mrs. Bethune fought to make sure black people could learn and serve in high positions just like white people did. People remember Mrs. Bethune best for founding Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida. It started as a girls’ school in 1904. Mrs. Bethune was also one of the founders of the United Negro College Fund. The money she helped raise helped many black people to attend college.

Mrs. Bethune became good friends with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. She also became director of the Negro Affairs Division for the National Youth Administration. She led the “Black Cabinet” of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Mrs. Bethune was the highest-ranking black government official!

Mrs. Bethune died in 1955. The statue will help others remember her good work.

The Black Rose

Take a closer look at Mrs. Bethune’s statue. What is she holding?

A black rose.

In speeches, Mrs. Bethune sometimes talked about a “people garden” where all sorts of people belonged and grew together. She called her students “black roses.”

According to one story, a kid told Ms. Bethune that black people couldn’t live in the people garden. Why? Because black flowers didn’t exist.

Mrs. Bethune (of course) believed that all people belonged in the “people garden.” But she had to admit: She had never seen a black flower.

Later, Mrs. Bethune visited Holland. She saw black tulips there. She also found black roses in Switzerland. Mrs. Bethune ordered that black rose bushes be planted at her school.

Why? God calls people to help create a world in which everyone is treated with justice. (Micah 6:8)