Honoring Legacy: Community Rededicates Mary McLeod Bethune Statue in Lincoln Park

Braving hot weather and humidity, National Park Service rangers gathered with history lovers and members of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) to honor celebrate Mary McLeod Bethune, in Lincoln Park on July 13. Three days after what would have been the NCNW founder’s 149th birthday, this celebration was more than a birthday party in a park, but also a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of a statue honoring Bethune’s life and legacy.

District Mayor Muriel Bowser (D), Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) and NCNW leaders reflected on the leader’s lifelong commitment to service and the importance of the public statue honoring her work and mission. 

“The statue represents feminism. It represents social justice. It represents education,” said Cypriana McCray, president of the Reston-Dulles Section of NCNW. “I think it’s important for us to have others see all of the progress that we have made as women, as women leaders by lifting up our community, making sure our children are educated, making sure our communities have what they need and the resources that make them successful.”

Bethune founded NCNW in 1935, and to date, the organization provides local scholarships, participates in political advocacy forums and champions women’s suffrage movements. While NCNW touts Bethune’s legendary achievements, many believe more monuments like hers need to be established across the District. 

“Not many more tributes to women have been placed in our city. But we know the contribution of American women and we know the contribution of Black American women,” Mayor Bowser said. “We are challenged to make sure we remember our history and make sure it’s properly reflected in our public spaces, buildings, and curriculum.”

Upon the statue’s unveiling in 1974, Bethune’s depiction became the first to honor a woman and an African American public land in front of a crowd of 18,000 people. Holmes Norton noted that many came to celebrate Bethune’s ability to break barriers on a national level.

“Dr. Bethune became the founding president of the National Council of Negro Women, and in 1936 became the highest ranking African American woman in the federal government when she was appointed by President Franklin Roosevelt as Director of Negro Affairs at the National Youth Administration,” said Holmes Norton.   

The South Carolina native, born 12 years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, sits across from a statue honoring the park’s namesake. African Americans funded both the statues of Lincoln and Bethune, which now rest in the largest recreational ground in Capitol Hill.  

Bowser noted Bethune’s legacy should be particularly celebrated in the District and nationwide, as many people still grapple with modern freedom fights.

“Her tireless advocacy for voting rights resonates strongly today, certainly in Washington, D.C. and our push for statehood,” Bowser said, calling the barrier-breaking leader and educator a “phenomenal American.”

Dr. Robert Williams formerly directed the concert chorale at Bethune Cookman University, an institution founded by Bethune with $1.50. He recognized Bethune as “one of America’s greatest trailblazers,” and mentioned it took grassroots efforts to build a statue in her honor with hundreds, “collecting pennies, nickels, dimes and dollars to create a statue that means something to Black women.”

Among the crowd were members of Bethune’s family, who graciously watched as the statue was unveiled for a second time.

“The statue is a living legacy sustained in the animated faces of children at play,” said Joan Mooney, who represented the U.S. Department of the Interior. 

Those who were not present at the first reveal 50 years ago were elated to attend the rededication and recommit themselves to Bethune’s ideals.

Current NCNW National Chair Dr. A. Lois Keith reflected on what she thinks Bethune would say about the work the organization is doing today.

“I certainly hope that her dream has been fulfilled and I certainly hope that this new era of NCNW with Shavon and myself would make her proud and that we would continue to carry out the vision of NCNW.”