Mary McLeod Bethune who is she? Local school could be renamed in her honor

A Shreveport school could soon be renamed in honor of an iconic American educator.

Board members and citizens have been working to rename Oak Park Microsociety Elementary School on Henry Street to Oak Park Bethune Elementary School. 

Curtis Graham said, "the school was originally named in honor of a great educator Mary McLeod Bethune. She was a woman who gave a lot of her life to education. We are asking you to consider the renaming of that school not just Oak Park Bethune but Bethune Oak Park."

Here are 5 things you need to know about Mary McLeod Bethune

More:Should Oak Park Elementary be renamed after historic Black educator? Board to decide

Background

Bethune was born in 1875 on a small South Carolina rice and cotton farm. She was born to two former slaves who raised 15 children. 

Bethune unlike her parents was able to get an education and graduated from Scotia Seminary for Girls in 1893. Within five years Bethune was married. 

Bethune was not only an educator but a wife and mother. 

Love for education 

In 1904, Bethune founded the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute, which later became the Bethune-Cookman College.

This school initially started as a school for girls and was a small house in Daytona Beach in a part of town where Black people could live, own businesses, worship and go to school. 

Being a founding member of Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute would later spear her quest for civil rights and women's rights. 

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Civil Rights and Women's rights

Bethune's passion took her to Washington D.C. where she became the only African American woman to help the U.S. delegation when forming the United Nations charter. 

Bethune created the National Council of Negro Women, directed the Office of Minority Affairs in the National Youth Administration and became a general in the Women's Army for the National Defense.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt

Bethune became an adviser to four U.S. Presidents. One of those presidents was Franklin D. Roosevelt who was known for the New Deal, which gave Black people middle-management jobs.

Roosevelt also created what came to be known as the Black Cabinet, and Bethune was a leader of that body. 

The Black Cabinet was made up of an unofficial group of advisers who met in Bethune's home in Washington. 

Bethune's Legacy

Bethune was an American educator, civil rights activist, teacher, humanitarian and philanthropist.

Today, schools across the nation are honoring her name and Oak Park Microsociety Elementary School in Shreveport is no exception. 

"When you think of Bethune you always think about the academia," Jackie Lansdale, a speaker at the Caddo Parish School board meeting said. 

The board will officially vote on the name change at the April 19 meeting. 

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Eileen Zaffiro-Kean with the News-Journal contributed to this story.

Makenzie Boucher is a reporter with the Shreveport Times. Contact her at mboucher@gannett.com.