Mary McLeod Bethune was the 15th of 17 children born to former slaves, Samuel and Patsy McLeod. Her parents and siblings endured many hardships because of slavery. However, Mary McLeod Bethune persevered through all of those challenges and became one of America’s greatest educators. The purpose of this paper is to bring awareness about her life, education and political success which validates her as an American hero.
Mary McLeod Bethune was born July 10, 1875, in Maysville, South Carolina. She was the first child that her parents were allowed to keep and raise. Sadly, all of her 14 siblings born before her were sold into slavery and they never saw them again. Her parents had three children that were born after he that they raised with Mary.
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Mary is also related to my family because she is my 5th cousin. She and my great great great grandmother used to go out to eat. Mary McLeod Bethune is historically viewed as a hero because of her contributions to society and the opportunities she has created for others. She accomplished many great things in life to include starting a school for colored girls during a time when that wasn’t common, to pushing to make a change for colored women and their roles in society. The bad she did if you can call it bad involved her controversy with other educators. In my opinion Mary McLeod Bethune is a hero because the good she had done greatly outweighed the bad. She was the daughter of former slaves who persevered through many hardships in order to become a great educator. She was a hero who accomplished many great things in her life in the field of education and politics.
In 1904 Mary McLeod Bethune opened the Daytona Educational and Industrial Training School for Negro girls. She rented a house for $11 dollars a month. She lived on the top floor of the house and she had the school on the bottom floor. She started with five students and very limited supplies. She had sticks of charcoal for pencils and boiled berry’s to make ink. In the next year she had 100