Life in the Palmetto State: Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune was a true trailblazer

Have you ever been riding through rural Lee County just north of Mayesville and happened upon a beautiful little park on a road by the same name? Well, that's Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Park, a very quaint 9-acre park dedicated to the memory of true giant in the advancement of African-Americans in our country.

As I have many times, I rode by this park and wondered what the story was. I decided to stop in, and what I found was an amazing legacy left by a woman determined to better her "sisters in suffrage" through education and opportunity.

Here is her story.

Dr. Bethune was No. 15 of 17 children born to the former enslaved Samuel and Patsy McLeod on July 10, 1875. She was born in Mayesville, South Carolina, in Sumter County, a full decade after that bloody civil war.

One would think that after the length of time that had past, the vitriol between the two warring sides would have subsided a bit, but that was not the case. Dr. Bethune faced a culture of hate and animosity, but that would not deter her. She was determined to provide a way forward for those less fortunate ones struck down by a system rigged against them.

You see, she believed education was the key that led to racial advancement.

She educated herself through grit and determination with one goal in mind, that education was the catalyst to freedom from discrimination for all Black Americans.

She was an educator, an organizer and a political activist.

After she finished her education, she opened one of the first schools for African-American girls. She founded the National Council for Negro Women. But her greatest achievement was the founding of the school which would later become Bethune-Cookman in Daytona Beach, Florida. Her dream of higher education for African-Americans was realized when the doors opened to what was originally known as Daytona Literary and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls in 1904. It later became Bethune-Cookman College and now university as of 2007, when it merged with Cookman Institute of Jacksonville, Florida, in 1923, when men were allowed to enroll and it became co-educational.

Dr. Bethune was the president twice: from 1923 to 1942 and again in 1946 and 1947.

She died in 1955 of a heart attack and was buried on the Bethune-Cookman campus in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Folks, with the limited space afforded my articles, I cannot begin to illuminate the enormity of this lovely lady. Suffice it to say she was very active, instrumental and larger than life when it came to the betterment of the African-American community.

Her input was so valuable, several U.S. presidents enlisted her help to better the plight African-Americans suffered in our United States. She also became friends with Eleanor Roosevelt, who wanted Dr. Bethune to help her with the equalization of all races in our country. Needless to say, she was well-respected for her knowledge and grit in all levels of our national progress.

I strongly urge you to take the time to ride out to her memorial park and immerse yourself in the life of a true trailblazer and her accomplishments that she was able to achieve over her lifetime.

You will not be disappointed.

May God bless you!

Lee Reaves Jr. is president of Clarendon County Historical Society.