Mary McLeod Bethune Statue in the US Capitol

An eight-foot-tall white marble statue of the educator, entrepreneur, leader, and activist Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, was contributed to the US National Statuary Hall Collection in the US Capitol on July 13th, 2022, by the state of Florida. It replaced the statue of Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith (dedicated in 1922) and is the first African American statue in the National Statuary Hall collection of 100 sculptures.

It is only one of the firsts that are accountable to Bethune (1875-1955). Born the 15th of 17 children to former slaves parents in South Carolina, she was the first in her family to attend school. She was one of the first people who believed in, promoted, and established educational institutions for African-Americans in the US and the first African-American woman who founded a University (the Bethune-Cookman University in 1941). As a civil and women’s rights activist, she was the founder and leader of many organizations, including the National Association of Colored Women, the Southeastern Association of Colored Women’s Clubs, and the National Council of Negro Women. She was the first African-American woman to become a division head as the Director of the Division of Negro Affairs, the first to have a role in the first Black Cabinet (under President Roosevelt’s administration), and an adviser to five US presidents.

Florida sculptress, Nilda Comas, created the statue using the last and largest block of the finest marble from the Italian Alps and the quarries above Pietrasanta, Italy. She depicted Bethune wearing a cap and gown, symbolizing her lifelong dedication to education, her recognizable wide smile, and the walking stick she received from President Franklin Roosevelt. Her left hand holds a black rose, her favorite flower, and the occasional name she used to describe her students.

On the base of the pedestal, along with her name and years, is her famous inspiring quote: “Invest in the human soul. Who knows, it may be a diamond in the rough.”

Not far from the US Capitol are the National Council Negro Women headquarters, which she founded in 1935, the Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site, and the Mary Mcleod Bethune Memorial in Lincoln Park, where her bronze statue faces the Lincoln statue in the Emancipation Memorial/Freedman’s Memorial.

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