She was born in South Carolina 10 years after the end of the Civil War to parents that were former slaves. Mary McLeod Bethune devoted her life to ending discrimination and to fight for equal rights for blacks. At the time of her birth, neither blacks nor women were allowed to vote in the United States. Mary McLeod Bethune received formal schooling and went on to teach in tough areas of Chicago. In 1904, she opened a school for African-American girls and boys. In 1923, the school merged with the Cookman Institute, which created Bethune-Cookman College. Mary McLeod Bethune remained president of that institution for over 40 years.
