Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial
Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial is a bronze statue by sculptor Robert Berks honoring educator and activist Mary McLeod Bethune. It stands in Lincoln Park in Washington, D.C., and is the first statue on public land in the capital to honor both an African American and a woman.
The sculpture shows Bethune as an elderly woman handing a scroll containing her legacy to two young Black children. She is supported by a cane that belonged to President Franklin D. Roosevelt; Eleanor Roosevelt gave the cane to Bethune after FDR’s death in 1945.
The statue was unveiled on July 10, 1974, Bethune’s 99th birthday, in front of about 18,000 people. The National Council of Negro Women, the organization Bethune founded in 1935, funded the monument.
Inscription on the base honors Bethune’s life and work, including the words Let her works praise her and the note that the sculpture was erected July 10, 1974 by the National Council of Negro Women, Dorothy I. Height, President. The surrounding bronze plaques carry messages such as I LEAVE YOU LOVE, I LEAVE YOU HOPE, I LEAVE YOU THE CHALLENGE OF DEVELOPING CONFIDENCE IN ONE ANOTHER, I LEAVE YOU A THIRST FOR EDUCATION, I LEAVE YOU A RESPECT FOR THE USE OF POWER, I LEAVE YOU FAITH, I LEAVE YOU RACIAL DIGNITY, I LEAVE YOU A DESIRE TO LIVE HARMONIOUSLY WITH YOUR FELLOW MEN, and I LEAVE YOU FINALLY, A RESPONSIBILITY TO OUR YOUNG PEOPLE.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 19:07 (CET).