H 5249 Concurrent Resolution, By Scott, Allison, Altman, Askins, Bailey, 
Barfield, Barrett, Battle, Bauer, J.M. Baxley, Beck, Boan, Bowers, Breeland, 
G. Brown, H. Brown, J. Brown, T. Brown, A.W. Byrd, Campsen, Canty, Carnell, 
Cato, Cave, Chellis, Clyburn, Cobb-Hunter, Cooper, Cotty, J.L.M. Cromer, 
Dantzler, Davenport, Delleney, Easterday, Edge, Emory, J.G. Felder, Fleming, 
Gamble, Gourdine, Govan, Hamilton, Harrell, Harris, Harrison, Harvin, Haskins, 
Hawkins, J. Hines, M. Hines, Hinson, Howard, Inabinett, Jennings, B.L. Jordan, 
Keegan, Kelley, Kennedy, M.H. Kinon, Kirsh, Klauber, Knotts, Koon, Lanford, Law, 
Leach, Lee, Limehouse, Littlejohn, Lloyd, Loftis, Mack, Maddox, Martin, Mason, 
J.G. McAbee, McCraw, McGee, McKay, W. McLeod, McMahand, J.D. McMaster, Meacham, 
Miller, Moody-Lawrence, V.T. Mullen, J.H. Neal, Neilson, Phillips, Pinckney, 
Quinn, Rhoad, Rice, Riser, Robinson, Rodgers, Sandifer, Seithel, Sharpe, 
Sheheen, Simrill, D. Smith, F. Smith, J. Smith, R. Smith, Spearman, Stille, 
E.C. Stoddard, Stuart, Townsend, Tripp, Trotter, Vaughn, Walker, Webb, Whatley, 
Whipper, Wilder, Wilkes, Wilkins, Witherspoon, Woodrum, W.J. Young and 
Young-Brickell
 A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION CELEBRATING THE LIFE AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE LATE
 MARY MCLEOD BETHUNE OF MAYESVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA, ON THE OBSERVANCE OF HER
 ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-THIRD BIRTHDAY.

   06/16/98  House  Introduced, adopted, sent to Senate HJ-12

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

CELEBRATING THE LIFE AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE LATE MARY MCLEOD BETHUNE OF MAYESVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA, ON THE OBSERVANCE OF HER ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-THIRD BIRTHDAY.

Whereas, Mary McLeod Bethune was born in Mayesville, South Carolina, on July 10, 1875, the fifteenth of seventeen children of sharecroppers who were slaves before the Civil War; and

Whereas, despite her humble beginnings, she graduated from the Scotia Seminary (later Barber-Scotia College) in Concord, North Carolina, in 1893 and graduated from the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois, in 1895; and

Whereas, although faced with the difficulties and challenges of being a black woman in a segregated nation, Mrs. Bethune's confidence in God led her to completely embrace a concept of herself that carried no inherent limitations; and

Whereas, with the belief that she could "achieve whatever was worth achieving in our society", in 1904 she opened the Daytona Educational and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls in Daytona Beach, Florida, which was merged in 1923 with the Cookman Institute for Men in Jacksonville, Florida, to form Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona Beach; and

Whereas, she served as President of Bethune-Cookman College until her retirement in 1942 and again from 1946 to 1947; and

Whereas, during his first term as President, Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Mrs. Bethune director of the Negro Affairs Division of the National Youth Administration where she served in this capacity from 1936 to 1944; and

Whereas, during World War II she assisted the Secretary of War in selecting officer candidates for the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps; and

Whereas, Mrs. Bethune was a special adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt on the problems of blacks and members of other minority groups; and

Whereas, she was an observer for the United States Department of State at the United Nations Conference on International Organization in San Francisco in 1945; and

Whereas, during her life this extraordinary woman garnered numerous tributes including the highest awards of Haiti and Liberia, the NAACP's Spingarn Medal, and a dozen honorary degrees; and

Whereas, since her death this country has honored Mrs. Bethune by depicting her image on a postage stamp and in a larger than life bronze statue in Washington, D.C.; and

Whereas, her achievements are celebrated in the halls of fame in Tallahassee, Florida; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; and Seneca Falls, New York; and in the halls of the South Carolina State House; and

Whereas, the members of the General Assembly, by this resolution would like to honor the memory and tremendous accomplishments of this daughter of South Carolina on the occasion of the observance of her one hundred twenty-third birthday. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:

That the members of the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina pay tribute to the life and many accomplishments in the fields of education, and national and international government of the late Mary McLeod Bethune of Mayesville, South Carolina, on the observance of her one hundred twenty-third birthday.

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Jereleen H. Miller, grandniece of Mrs. Mary McLeod Bethune.