Mary McLeod Bethune

First African American woman to head a federal agency division

Renowned educator and reformer Mary McLeod Bethune (1875–1955) dedicated her life to organizing and empowering African American women to work for equality. In 1904, Bethune founded the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute, a school for Black girls that gave Florida students the tools they needed to become community leaders. In the 1930s, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed her director of the Division of Negro Affairs in the National Youth Administration, making her the first African American woman to head a division of a federal agency. Bethune founded the National Council of Negro Women in 1935 and acted as their first president. The council influenced civil rights, education, U.S. relations with Africa, and other 20th-century movements.

Mary McLeod Bethune

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See more items in: National Portrait Gallery Collection

Date: 1943

Object number: NPG.67.78

Provenance: Harmon Foundation; gift 1967 to NPG.
Collection Description: The Harmon Foundation, a philanthropic organization based in New York City (active 1922–1967), included this portrait in their exhibition Portraits of Outstanding Americans of Negro Origin, which opened at the Smithsonian in 1944 and documented noteworthy African Americans’ contributions to the country. Modeling their goal of social equality, the Harmon sought portraits from African American artist Laura Wheeler Waring and Euro-American artist Betsy Graves Reyneau. The two painters followed the conventional codes of academic portraiture, seeking to convey their sitters’ extraordinary accomplishments. This painting, along with a variety of educational materials, toured nation-wide for ten years, serving as a visual rebuttal to racism.; La Harmon Foundation, entidad filantrópica con sede en la ciudad de Nueva York (activa entre 1922 y 1967), incluyó este retrato en Portraits of Outstanding Americans of Negro Origin (Retratos de estadounidenses destacados de origen negro), una exposición inaugurada en la Smithsonian en 1944 que documentó las aportaciones de afroamericanos notables al país. A tono con sus ideales de igualdad social, la fundación encargó retratos a la artista afroamericana Laura Wheeler Waring y a la euroamericana Betsy Graves Reyneau. Ambas adoptaron los códigos convencionales del retrato académico para comunicar en sus obras los logros extraordinarios de sus modelos. Esta pintura, junto con diversos materiales educativos, viajó por la nación durante diez años planteando una impugnación visual del racismo.

Credit Line: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of the Harmon Foundation

Artist: Betsy Graves Reyneau, 1888 - 1964
Sitter: Mary McLeod Bethune, 10 Jul 1875 - 18 May 1955

Topic: Interior; Artwork\Painting; Equipment\Walking stick\Cane; Home Furnishings\Globe; Mary McLeod Bethune: Female; Mary McLeod Bethune: Education\Founder\School; Mary McLeod Bethune: Education\Educator\Teacher; Mary McLeod Bethune: Society and Social Change\Philanthropist; Mary McLeod Bethune: Education\Administrator\College\President; Portrait

Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: Stretcher: 114.9 x 89.5 x 2.5cm (45 1/4 x 35 1/4 x 1"); Frame: 133.4 x 108 x 6.4cm (52 1/2 x 42 1/2 x 2 1/2")

Data Source: National Portrait Gallery

Restrictions & Rights: Usage conditions apply
Copyright: © Peter Edward Fayard

Type: Painting

Metadata Usage: Usage conditions apply

GUID: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4ee515c6d-2679-449b-a721-6b43ad1bdd4a

Record ID: npg_NPG.67.78

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