Mary McLeod Bethune becomes first Black American honored in U.S. Capitol’s Statuary Hall

Judy Woodruff:

A new statue unveiled today at the U.S. Capitol marks a historic first. Civil rights pioneer Mary McLeod Bethune is the first Black American to represent a state in Statuary Hall.

Congressional leaders celebrated the unveiling and Bethune's legacy.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA):

How poetic that Dr. Bethune replaces a little known Confederate general, trading a traitor for a civil rights hero in the Capitol of the United States.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL):

Dr. Bethune wasn't just a great Floridian. She was a great American, an American who refused to accept that her humble beginnings or the color of her skin were a limit on her dreams and on her destiny, an American who, in the face of the ignorance, the cruelty, and the prejudice of others, she refused to surrender to bitterness, cynicism, or despair.

Judy Woodruff:

Lisa Desjardins has more on the unveiling.

Lisa Desjardins:

Each state has two statues representing them in the U.S. Capitol. Florida lawmakers voted to remove one of theirs, a statue representing a Confederate general, and replace it with a statue of Bethune.

Joining me now is her granddaughter, Evelyn Bethune.

And, Evelyn, your grandmother is especially known for her pioneering and relentless work in education. That is why she is depicted in the U.S. Capitol as wearing a cap and gown. In fact, she created what would become the Bethune-Cookman University starting with just $1.50. It ultimately became a historically Black university.

Tell us more about what she did.

Evelyn Bethune, Granddaughter of Mary McLeod Bethune: Well, I think the key element is to know that in order for her to found the school, she had to be a great organizer and fund-raiser.

Bethune-Cookman University sits on what was the city garbage dump, which was the only land they would give her, let her purchase during that time, because women were not really allowed, women, Black or white, were not allowed to vote, make decisions, buy property or anything, unless a man gave them permission or assisted them.

And so for her to acquire this property for $250, and work out a deal, because she only had $1.50, was quite amazing for that time period.

But my grandmother took those skills and she built relationships with people like the Roosevelts, and she made sure that she was able to organize communities and people to vote once the vote was given to women. She registered women to vote across this country. She founded the National Council of Negro Women, which is an organization that was made up of women in leadership in the organizations within their communities.

And, at one point, they had over five million women in their membership. That is a huge voting block. And with that carries a lot of power.

Lisa Desjardins:

We met earlier today at Statuary Hall ahead of the unveiling of the statue. And that is a very special place.

It is also a place where there are still statues representing Confederates. And I just wonder what it was like for you, that moment when her statue was unveiled, looking in that place, what you think that meant for the Capitol and for our country?

Evelyn Bethune:

For us as a family, it is a position of pride that is very humbling, when we think of our grandmother, our descendant being part of Statuary Hall.

The fact that there are Confederate soldiers there is very interesting to me, since they lost the war. And it speaks volumes in terms of the thinking of the people who placed it there, how they still hold on to the tenets of enslavement and unequal access.

My grandmother is a reminder of the good that comes when we share power, when we give access to everyone, and when we make voting accessible to everyone easily, and not make it so difficult that you can't get registered, you can't get to the polls. And that is not what this country is about. This country is about freedom.

Lisa Desjardins:

It is interesting you talk about the power of representation in this country.

And it was the Florida legislature that decided your grandmother was the one to represent the state, to change the image it presented at the Capitol. But we also know, in recent months, the Florida legislature and governor have decided that they want to limit what teachers can actually say in classrooms about race and about our history of race.

And I wonder what you think that means in general for society, but also for your grandmother's place in history.

Evelyn Bethune:

Well, my grandmother's place in history is solid. There is very little that they can do to change her accomplishments if we — unless we sit back and allow that to happen, which is not what to happen.

It is a double-edged sword. On one hand, we want to have freedom of speech and freedom to carry weapons, but, on the other, we don't want to give you the ability to talk about the history of enslavement, because, if we don't talk about it, we will try to repeat it.

And Americans who relish and cherish freedom have to stand up and vote and remove people from office who think that we should go back to Jim Crow in the 1920s.

Lisa Desjardins:

Evelyn Bethune, thank you so much for sharing with us what you know about your grandmother.

Evelyn Bethune:

You're welcome.