Black history continues to be made as Mary McLeod Bethune, a famous civil rights activist during the 20th century, gets her statue at the US Capitol Statuary Hall, being the first ever Black American to receive the state-sponsored honor. Aside from activism, Bethune was a philanthropist, women’s rights advocate, educator, and humanitarian. Many may recognize her last name in Florida HBCU, Bethune-Cookman University. Bethune originally opened the institution as a boarding school for children in 1904.

In early July 2022, Bethune’s statue was unveiled during a ceremony at the US Capitol Statuary Hall, where it’ll permanently stand. Sculptor, Nilda Comas, crafted the 11-foot tall figure in white marble, with an accompanying black rose in Bethune’s hand. The statue of civil rights pioneer replaces the one which previously was Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith, which was removed on September 4, 2021, according to USA Today.

Attendees at the ceremony include House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and other politicians and activists. 

During the ceremony, Democratic Rep. Kathy Castor of Florida said the following (via CNN News):

“I am proud to be a Floridian this morning because the people of the state of Florida have sent the great educator and civil rights leader Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune to represent our dynamic and diverse state – the first to be represented by a Black American in National Statuary Hall.”

Castor praised the civil rights activist, saying “she devoted her life to equal rights and service.”

While Mary McLoed is the first Black American to receive a state-sponsored statue in the US Capitol Statuary Hall, another civil rights activist, Rosa Parks, received a Congress-commissioned honor in 2013. However, the difference between McLeod’s and Parks’s statues is that Parks’s tribute was the first-ever Black American statue commissioned by Congress since 1873 (Architect of the Capitol). 

Some of McLeod’s most notable moments during her career include her fight to get voter registration for women, founding the National Council of Negro Women, serving as the president of the National Association of Colored Women’s Florida chapter, and becoming the special advisor to former president Franklin Roosevelt.

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