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Mary McLeod Bethune        

* Born to former slaves a decade after the end of the Civil War

*  Was 15th of 17 brothers and sisters!

* Born on a rice and Cotton plantation.

*Devoted her life to ensuring the right to education and freedom from discrimination for black Americans.

*She believed that through education, blacks could begin to earn a living in a country that still opposed racial equality.

* She worked tirelessly until her death and would not rest while there was "a single Negro boy or girl without a chance to prove his worth."

*  She first taught school in Georgia and later in South Carolina, Florida and Illinois

*  As a young teacher in Chicago, she visited prisoners in jail, giving them inspiration through song.

*  She worked at the Pacific Garden Mission, serving lunch to the homeless, and counseled the residents of Chicago's slums.

*  In Florida, she organized a Sunday school program and sang to prisoners.

*  In 1904, Bethune opened the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute for Negro Girls.

*  The school opened with five girls as students and later accepted boys as well.

*  Tuition was 50 cents a week, but  Bethune never refused to educate a child whose parents could not afford the payment.

* She fought aggressively the segregation and inequality facing blacks.

*  There was objection from many at that time to the education of black children, but Bethune's zeal and dedication won over many skeptics of both races.

*  She encouraged people to "Invest in the human soul. Who knows, it might be a diamond in the rough."

* Bethune also opened a high school and a hospital for blacks.

* She had immense faith in God and believed that nothing was impossible.

* Bethune remained president of the school for more than 40 years.

* In 1923, she oversaw the school's merger with the Cookman Institute, thereby forming the Bethune-Cookman College.