Mary McLeod Bethune

Object Details

Exhibition Label:

On paper, the New Deal programs enacted to ease the economic sufferings of the Depression were open to everyone, but in practice, racial discrimination often kept African Americans from sharing in their full benefits. A black educator and founder of Bethune-Cookman College, Mary McLeod Bethune was determined to correct that inequity. As an official in the National Youth Administration, she proved remarkably effective in assuring blacks access to its employment programs. But her efforts did not stop there. In 1936 she was the chief organizer of a group of Washington-based African American leaders known as the "black cabinet," whose self-appointed mission was to maintain steady pressure on the federal government to create better job opportunities for blacks. Bethune had no physical need for the cane she holds in her portrait. She used it, she said, to give herself "swank."

The Harmon Foundation, a philanthropic organization based in New York City and active from (1922-1967) included this portrait in their exhibition “Portraits of Outstanding Americans of Negro Origins” which documented noteworthy African Americans’ contributions to the country. Modeling their goal of social equality, the Harmon sought portraits from an 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.

Provenance:

Harmon Foundation; gift 1967 to NPG.

Credit Line:

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

Restrictions & Rights:

© Peter Edward Fayard

See more items in:

National Portrait Gallery Collection

Exhibition:

20th Century Americans: 1930-1960

On View:

NPG, South Gallery 321

Date:

1943

Object number:

NPG.67.78

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

Type:

Painting