The Mary McLeod Bethune Council House
The Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site preserves the house of Mary McLeod Bethune, located in Northwest Washington, D.C., at 1318 Vermont Avenue. National Park Service rangers offer tours of the home, and a video is shown about Bethune’s life.
Location: The Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site is located on Vermont Avenue in the Logan Circle Historic District, Washington, DC.
Description: From 1943 to 1966, this 19th century townhouse served as headquarters for the National Council of Negro Women, founded by educator and activist Mary McLeod Bethune. Site also commemorates McLeod Bethune’s leadership in black women’s rights movements from 1943 to 1949. She was also the founder of Bethune-Cookman College in Florida.
Activities: Tours are available for both individuals and groups of all ages. Visitors to the Bethune Council House will see original furnishings and historic photographs depicting the Council House during the 1940′s when it was Mary McLeod Bethune’s Washington, DC residence and the headquarters of the National Council of Negro Women.
The Bethune Citizens Program provides students with an opportunity to use Mary McLeod Bethune’s Last Will and Testament to effect positive change in their community through the activities of an innovative NPS volunteer youth leadership program. For further information on this program, please contact the park 202-673-2402. Park Rangers are available to visit classrooms to talk about Mary McLeod Bethune, the Bethune Council House, the National Park Service, and African American women’s history. The Bethune Council House is developing a number of workshops for teachers and students on a variety of topics ranging from archival research to African American history.
From her home in this townhouse, Mary McLeod Bethune ran the National Council of Negro Women, one of the first organizations dedicated to African-American civil rights.
Born to former slaves and raised in the South during Reconstruction, Mary McLeod Bethune experienced prejudice and privation firsthand. She dedicated her life to ending racial inequity through education, political activism, and leadership.
Bethune started her career as a teacher, co-founding a school for Negro girls in Florida that rivaled white schools in the quality of its education.
Active in the National Association of Colored Women for years, Bethune was elected NACW’s national president in 1924. She moved to Washington and purchased the townhouse at 1318 Vermont Avenue, NW, to give the organization a presence and a voice in the nation’s capital. In 1935, she founded the National Council of Negro Women to further that work.
A close advisor to President Franklin Roosevelt, Bethune was named Director of the Office of Negro Affairs, National Youth Administration. She was the first African-American woman to head a federal agency.
Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site houses documents, photos, and artifacts that honor her life’s work and achievements.