Mary McLeod Bethune a trailblazer for civil rights, education and racial harmony

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Patsy and Samuel McLeod knew the cruelty and harsh realities for Black people in the Civil War-era South.

When the former slaves' 15th child was born in 1875, they undoubtedly hoped their baby girl Mary would live a purely free life, have the chances they never did to get an education and one day be a wife and mother.