By D. Kevin McNeir
Special to the AFRO
kmcneir@afro.com
A small but enthusiastic and diverse group of supporters attended the 150th birthday celebration for civil rights activist, presidential advisor, educator and women’s rights advocate, Mary McLeod Bethune, during an event hosted by the National Park Service (NPS).
The celebration, held annually and dating back for more than 50 years, took place on July 12 at Lincoln Park in Washington, D.C., and featured a keynote address, music, a spoken word presentation and a wreath laying ceremony led by NPS officials at Bethune’s statue located in the park.
Kelvin G. Mayner, executive director of alumni affairs at Bethune-Cookman University (BCU), counted as one of over a dozen graduates of the university who came to D.C. for the event. Some, like Mayner, traveled from as far away as Daytona Beach, Fla., the city in which Bethune founded the school in 1929, to participate in the annual pilgrimage.
“Mary McLeod Bethune represents one of the greatest women of our time, one who has a storied history that merits the recognition of all Americans,” he said. “Not only was she the only Black woman to serve as a consultant to the U.S. delegation that formed the United Nations in San Francisco in 1945 but she was a trailblazer for Blacks and women during a time when both groups were denied equal rights.”
Mary Hunter, an alumna of BCU who graduated during the heyday of the Civil Rights Movement, said she owes her life and career in the military – from which she has since retired – to Bethune.
“Like Mary McLeod Bethune, I was born and raised in South Carolina, and it was only because of the generosity of the university she founded that I was able to attend college,” Hunter said. “While attending church one Sunday during my senior year in high school, our pastor shared the news that scholarships were available at Bethune-Cookman for those who wanted to continue their studies but whose parents could not afford it. Before the service was over, I, along with two others who would go on to become a teacher and a minister, had surrounded the Methodist Youth Advisor for more information.
A. Lois Keith, national chair of the board of the National Council of Negro Women, gave closing remarks during the annual birthday celebration for Mary McLeod Bethune on July 12, in Washington, D.C. 
An assortment of artifacts showcases the items worn by the Six Triple Eight Battalion – the only all-Black female unit to serve overseas during World War II. 
Zora Sanders (left), NACE (National Capital Parks – East) Historic Home Conservation intern, and Ife Calhoun, NPS park ranger, were on hand to answer questions during the Mary McLeod Bethune 150th birthday celebration on July 12. 
Photographs from the 1940s that illustrate the heroic contributions made by Black women during World War II were on display during the 150th birthday celebration for Mary McLeod Bethune on July 12. 
NPS Park Ranger Ife Calhoun (left) and Vince Vaise, program manager, Visitor Services for National Capital Parks East, participating in a wreath laying ceremony in recognition of the 150th birthday of Mary McLeod Bethune.
“Our youth need to study her and understand the many obstacles she faced and the ways in which she overcame them,” Hunter added. “From the time she persuaded White children to do the unthinkable – to teach her how to read – Mary McLeod Bethune was determined to show America that Black children had just as much talent and abilities as their White counterparts.”
Special guests who participated in the celebration included: Raenatta Floyd, president, Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the BCU Alumni Association; Januari Hester, second vice president, Washington Section, National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), which Bethune founded; former NPS Director Robert Stanton; the Rev. Shavon Arline-Bradley, president/CEO, NCNW; and Dr. A. Lois Keith, national chair of the board, NCNW.
Three NACE (National Capital Parks-East) Historic Home Conservation interns William Levi, Kenyen Rose and Zora Sanders also participated in the program, during which they performed an original spoken word piece entitled, “Mary McLeod Bethune: A Monumental Legacy.”
A further highlight of the celebration was an exhibit of memorabilia and photographs used and taken, respectively, during World War II that showcased the exemplary contributions of the only all-Black female unit to serve overseas during the war – the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, also known as the Six Triple Eight.
Two young women of color, NPS Park Ranger Ife Calhoun and Sanders, the NACE intern, donned historic uniforms worn by women during World War II, and were on hand to answer questions about the Six Triple Eight. They also shared the rarely told story which illustrates how Bethune used her influence in the White House and friendship with Eleanor Roosevelt to secure a place for the Battalion overseas.
Vince Vaise, program manager of Visitor Services for National Capital Parks-East, said he considered it an honor to be part of a tribute to a woman like Bethune.
“She is finally reaching the kind of recognition she deserves and is approaching the level of honor that Frederick Douglass has already achieved in America,” Vaise said. “NPS has been hosting this celebration for more than 50 years – the largest drawing more than 20,000 visitors when we dedicated the monument to Mary McLeod Bethune here in Lincoln Park on July 10, 1974 (Bethune’s 99th birthday).
“But it’s not the number of those who attend that matters because this is an important ceremony that honors an American woman, a Black woman, who paved the way for equal rights for all Americans.”
