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Education

Mary McLeod Bethune

First African American woman to head a federal agency

Renowned educator and reformer Mary McLeod Bethune (1875–1955) dedicated her life to organizing and empowering African American women to work for equality. In 1914, Bethune founded the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute for Training Negro 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 federal agency.

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Mary McLeod Bethune

Artist
Betsy Graves Reyneau, 1888 - 1964
Sitter
Mary McLeod Bethune, 10 Jul 1875 - 18 May 1955
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
1943
Object number
NPG.67.78
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Copyright
© Peter Edward Fayard
Type
Painting
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")
Exhibition
20th Century Americans: 1930-1960
On View
NPG, South Gallery 321
National Portrait Gallery
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
Record ID
npg_NPG.67.78
Usage of Metadata (Object Detail Text)
Usage conditions apply
GUID (Link to Original Record)
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4ee515c6d-2679-449b-a721-6b43ad1bdd4a

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