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79-528: Annie Minerva Turnbo Malone (August 9, 1877 – May 10, 1957) was an American businesswoman, inventor and philanthropist. In the first three decades of the 20th century, she founded and developed a large and prominent commercial and educational enterprise centered on cosmetics for African-American women. Annie Minerva Turnbo was born in Metropolis, Illinois , the daughter of Robert and Isabella Turnbo, who had formerly been enslaved. When her father went for
158-785: A benefactor of the St. Louis Colored Orphans Home , where she served as president on the board of directors from 1919 to 1943. With her help, in 1922 the Home bought a facility at 2612 Goode Avenue, which was renamed Annie Malone Drive in her honor. The Orphans Home is located in the historic Ville neighborhood. Upgraded and expanded, the facility was renamed in the entrepreneur's honor as the Annie Malone Children and Family Service Center. As well as funding many programs, Turnbo Malone ensured that her employees, all African American, were paid well and given opportunities for advancement. Turnbo
237-445: A better job and salary opportunities for Black people across the country. During her tenure, Bethune also pushed federal officials to approve a program of consumer education for Blacks and a foundation for Black disabled children. She planned for studies for Black workers' education councils. National officials did not support these due to inadequate funding and fear of duplicating the work of private, non-governmental agencies. The NYA
316-708: A coeducational junior college. Through the Great Depression , the school, renamed Bethune-Cookman College in 1931, continued to operate and met the educational standards of the State of Florida. Throughout the 1930s, Bethune and civil rights advocate Blake R. Van Leer worked with fellow Florida institutions to lobby for federal funding. From 1936 to 1942, Bethune had to cut back her time as president because of her duties in Washington, D.C. Funding declined during this period of her absence. Nevertheless, by 1941,
395-492: A family was $ 33,979. Males had a median income of $ 27,630 versus $ 17,561 for females. The per capita income for the city was $ 15,967. About 12.5% of families and 17.2% of the population were below the poverty line , including 21.8% of those under age 18 and 16.7% of those age 65 or over. Metropolis is served by Interstate 24 , which runs from Chattanooga, Tennessee , northwest to Williamson County, Illinois , where it connects with Interstate 57 . U.S. Route 45 passes through
474-522: A larger facility on 3100 Pine Street. In 1918, she established Poro College, a cosmetology school and center. The building included a manufacturing plant, a retail store where Poro products were sold, business offices, a 500-seat auditorium, dining and meeting rooms, a roof garden, dormitory, gymnasium, bakery, and chapel. It served the African-American community as a center for religious and social functions. The college's curriculum addressed
553-506: A match out for a White man and then had shoved him to the ground. As McLeod watched, the mob nearly hanged the Black man, stopped at the last moment by the sheriff. McLeod recalled later learning about both the terrifying effects of White violence and the value of allying with some White people, those she called "calm men of authority". In October 1886, McLeod began attending Mayesville's one-room Black schoolhouse, Trinity Mission School, which
632-412: A nearby construction site, the hospital took in injured Black workers. The hospital and its nurses were also praised for their efforts with the 1918 influenza outbreak . During this outbreak, the hospital was full and had to overflow into the school's auditorium. In 1931, Daytona's public hospital, Halifax, agreed to open a separate hospital for people of color. Black people would not fully integrate into
711-720: A pamphlet entitled Southern Negro Women and Race Co-Operation; it delineated their demands regarding conditions in domestic service, child welfare, conditions of travel, education, lynching, the public press, and voting rights. The group went on to help register Black women to vote after they were granted suffrage resulting from the passage of the constitutional amendment. However, in both Florida and other Southern states, Black men and women experienced disenfranchisement by discriminatory application of literacy and comprehension tests and requirements to pay poll taxes, lengthy residency requirements, and governmental insistence upon keeping and displaying relevant records. In 1935 Bethune founded
790-846: A property at 1318 Vermont Avenue in Washington, D.C. Gaining a national reputation, in 1928, Bethune was invited to attend the Child Welfare Conference called by Republican President Calvin Coolidge . In 1930 President Herbert Hoover appointed her to the White House Conference on Child Health. The Southeastern Federation of Colored Women's Clubs (eventually renamed as the Southeastern Association of Colored Women's Clubs) elected Bethune as president after its first conference in 1920 at
869-601: A public school in Metropolis, before moving in 1896 to live with her older sister Ada Moody in Peoria . There Turnbo attended high school, taking a particular interest in chemistry. However, due to frequent illness, she was forced to withdraw from classes. While out of school, Turnbo grew so fascinated with hair and hair care that she often practiced hairdressing with her sister. With expertise in both chemistry and hair care, Turnbo began to develop her own hair-care products. At
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#1732783167802948-825: A scholarship, which McLeod did from 1888 to 1894. She attended Dwight L. Moody 's Institute for Home and Foreign Missions in Chicago (now the Moody Bible Institute ) from 1894 to 1895, hoping to become a missionary in Africa. Told by the Presbyterian mission board, where she applied to become a missionary, that Black missionaries were not needed, she planned to teach, as education was a prime goal among African Americans. McLeod married Albertus Bethune in 1898. The Bethunes moved to Savannah, Georgia , where she did social work until they moved to Florida. They had
1027-743: A school for girls. Bethune moved from Palatka to Daytona because it had more economic opportunity; it had become a popular tourist destination, and businesses were thriving. In October 1904, she rented a small house for $ 11.00 per month. She made benches and desks from discarded crates and acquired other items through charity. Bethune started the Educational and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls. She initially had six students—five girls and her son Albert. The school bordered Daytona's dump. She raised money by selling homemade sweet potato pies and ice cream to crews of local workers, gathering enough to purchase additional dump land. She hired workers to build
1106-429: A son named Albert McLeod Bethune, Sr. A visiting Presbyterian minister, Coyden Harold Uggams, persuaded the couple to relocate to Palatka, Florida , to run a mission school. The Bethunes moved in 1899; Mary ran the mission school and began an outreach to prisoners. Albertus left the family in 1907 and relocated to South Carolina. The couple never divorced, and Albertus died in 1918 from tuberculosis . Bethune worked as
1185-484: A statue of Noel Neill 's Lois Lane from The Adventures of Superman stands just a few blocks away. Each year on the second weekend of June, Superman fans from all over the world gather in Metropolis for their annual Superman Celebration , which features celebrity guests from movies, television, and the comic book industry. Since June 1979, the Metropolis Chamber of Commerce had organized 44 editions of
1264-554: A teacher briefly at her former school in Sumter County. In 1896, she began teaching at Haines Normal and Industrial Institute in Augusta, Georgia , which was part of a Presbyterian mission organized by northern congregations. It was founded and run by Lucy Craft Laney . As the daughter of former slaves, Laney ran her school with a Christian missionary zeal, emphasizing character and practical education for girls. She also accepted
1343-557: A transport hub and chose a befittingly grand name. In 1843, the Illinois Legislature formed Massac County. The McCartney family became leaders in building the town of Metropolis. During the early years of the American Civil War , soldiers were encamped in the vicinity. Although Illinois was established as a free state, this section had many southern sympathizers. Despite this background, the state stayed with
1422-553: A wide advertising campaign in the black press, held news conferences, toured many southern states, and recruited many women whom she trained to sell her products. One of her selling agents, Sarah Breedlove Davis , later known as Madam C. J. Walker, operated first in St. Louis and later in Denver, Colorado , until a disagreement led Walker to leave the company. Walker allegedly took the original Poro formula and created her own brand of it (this
1501-481: A year, Bethune was teaching over 30 girls at the school. After two years of operation, 250 girls were enrolled. Bethune also courted wealthy White organizations, such as the ladies' Palmetto Club. She invited influential White men to sit on her school board of trustees, gaining participation by James Gamble (of Procter & Gamble ), Ransom Eli Olds (of Oldsmobile and REO MotorCompany) and Thomas H. White (of White Sewing Machines ). When Booker T. Washington of
1580-443: Is disputed). This development was one of the reasons which led then Turnbo to copyright her products under the name "Poro" because of what she called fraudulent imitations and to discourage counterfeit versions. Poro may have received this name from a Mende word for devotional society or it may be a combination of the married names of Annie Pope and her sister Laura Roberts. Due to the growth in her business, in 1910 Turnbo moved to
1659-582: Is located by the Ohio River . As of the 2020 census , it had a population of 5,969, down from 6,537 in 2010 . Metropolis is part of the Paducah , KY -IL Metropolitan Statistical Area in Southern Illinois . Located on the Ohio River , the Metropolis area has been settled by many different peoples throughout history. For thousands of years, varying cultures of Native Americans populated
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#17327831678021738-575: Is portrayed by British actress Carmen Ejogo in the 2020 Netflix miniseries Self Made . In this version, the character is renamed Addie Munroe. Turnbo is featured in Bayer Mack 's 2019 documentary, No Lye: An American Beauty Story , which chronicles the rise and decline of the black-owned ethnic beauty industry. Metropolis, Illinois Metropolis is a city and the county seat in Massac County, Illinois , United States. It
1817-582: The National Association of Colored Women (NACW) was formed to promote the needs of Black women. Bethune served as the Florida chapter president of the NACW from 1917 to 1925. She worked to register Black voters, which was resisted by White society and had been made almost impossible by various obstacles in Florida law and practices controlled by White administrators. She was threatened by members of
1896-750: The National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) in New York City , bringing together representatives of 28 different organizations to work to improve the lives of Black women and their communities. Bethune said of the council: It is our pledge to make a lasting contribution to all that is finest and best in America, to cherish and enrich her heritage of freedom and progress by working for the integration of all her people regardless of race, creed, or national origin, into her spiritual, social, cultural, civic, and economic life, and thus aid her to achieve
1975-761: The Paducah & Louisville Railway , crossing the Ohio River on the Metropolis Bridge . Metropolis is home to Massac Memorial Hospital , a 25-bed critical access hospital that opened in 1956. Originally shaped like a cross, the hospital is located on the northwest side of town. The hospital has undergone several renovations and additions to make updates to the original facility. Current services offered include ambulance, cardiac rehabilitation, cardiopulmonary, emergency department, imaging, laboratory, Massac Memorial Medical Clinic, rehabilitation services, sleep disorders center, specialty clinic, surgery, and transitional care. A Fresenius Medical Care dialysis center
2054-828: The Secretary of War during the war. In the 1990s, the headquarters for the National Council for Negro Women moved to Pennsylvania Avenue, centrally located between the White House and the U.S. Capitol. The former headquarters, where Bethune also lived at one time, has been designated as a National Historic Site . The National Youth Administration (NYA) was a federal agency created under Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration (WPA). It provided programs specifically to promote relief and employment for young people. It focused on unemployed citizens aged sixteen to twenty-five years who were not in school. Bethune lobbied
2133-562: The Superman Celebration . The four-day annual celebration also boasts vendors selling food, comics, homemade crafts, and other merchandise, as well as discussion panels, auctions, a costume contest, and a variety of other events throughout the weekend. The first such celebration was organized by local civic clubs and took place in June 1979. The local newspaper is named The Metropolis Planet , inspired by The Daily Planet ,
2212-697: The Tuskegee Institute visited in 1912, he advised her of the importance of gaining support from White benefactors for funding, suggesting a few ways of doing so. The rigorous curriculum had the girls rise at 5:30 a.m. for Bible study. The classes in home economics and industrial skills such as dressmaking, millinery, cooking, and other crafts emphasized a life of self-sufficiency . Students' days ended at 9 p.m. Soon Bethune added science and business courses, then high school-level math, English, and foreign languages. Bethune always sought donations to keep her school operating; as she traveled, she
2291-463: The Union during the war. Prior to the American Civil War , some groups worked to establish a Western District of Columbia , to include present-day Metropolis and the nearby area of Kentucky. An 1850 map illustrates this proposal. During the twentieth century, agriculture has continued to be the economic driver of the region. The state's authorization of riverboat gambling led to Metropolis's becoming
2370-498: The census of 2000, there were 6,482 people, 2,896 households, and 1,708 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,295.1 inhabitants per square mile (500.0/km ). There were 3,265 housing units at an average density of 652.3 per square mile (251.9/km ). The racial makeup of the city was 90.53% White , 7.61% African American , 0.20% Native American , 0.20% Asian , 0.45% from other races , and 1.02% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.74% of
2449-717: The NYA who was a financial manager. She ensured Black colleges participated in the Civilian Pilot Training Program , which graduated some of the first Black pilots. The director of the NYA said in 1939: "No one can do what Mrs. Bethune can do." Bethune's determination helped national officials recognize the need to improve employment for Black youth. The NYA's final report, issued in 1943, stated, more than 300,000 black young men and women were given employment and work training on NYA projects. These projects opened to these youth, training opportunities and enabled
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2528-570: The National Council of Negro Women in 1935, established the organization's flagship journal Aframerican Women's Journal , and presided for a myriad of African-American women's organizations including the National Association for Colored Women and the National Youth Administration's Negro Division. She started a private school for African-American students which later became Bethune-Cookman University . She
2607-674: The Ohio and lower Mississippian valleys, where the rivers were part of widespread trading routes used for exchange with other cultures. In 1757, Massac County was settled by a French expedition, which built Fort de L'Ascension for use during the French and Indian War against the British (the war is also known as the Seven Years' War , which took place largely in Europe). The garrison at the fort
2686-900: The Roosevelt Administration did on their behalf and made their concerns known to the Roosevelts. She had unprecedented access to the White House through her relationship with the First Lady. She used this access to form a coalition of leaders from Black organizations called the Federal Council of Negro Affairs , later known as the Black Cabinet. It served as an advisory board to the Roosevelt administration on issues facing Black people in America. It
2765-584: The Tuskegee Institute. They intended to reach out to Southern women (specifically White women) for support and unity in gaining rights for Black women. The women met in Memphis, Tennessee, to discuss interracial problems. In many respects, all of the women agreed about what needed to be changed until they came to the topic of suffrage. The White women at the conference tried to strike down a resolution on Black suffrage. The SACWC responded by issuing
2844-513: The Union with the 1st Kentucky Cavalry in the Civil War , Isabella took the couple's children and escaped from Kentucky , a neutral border state that maintained slavery. After traveling down the Ohio River , she found refuge in Metropolis, Illinois . Annie Turnbo was born on a farm near Metropolis in Massac County, Illinois , the tenth of eleven children. Orphaned at a young age, she attended
2923-553: The Wonderful Hair Grower in bottles door-to-door. Her products and sales began to revolutionize hair-care methods for all African Americans. In 1902, Turnbo moved to a thriving St. Louis , where she and three employees sold her hair-care products door-to-door. As part of her marketing, she gave away free treatments to attract more customers. Due to the high demand for her product in St. Louis, Turnbo opened her first shop in 1902 at 2223 Market Street. She also launched
3002-668: The area. The most complex society was the Mississippian culture , which reached its peak around AD 1100 and built a large city at Cahokia , near the Mississippi River and present-day Collinsville, Illinois , to the north opposite St. Louis, Missouri . Its people built large earthworks and related structures, many of which have been preserved and protected at the UNESCO World Heritage Site . Mississippian culture regional centers arose throughout
3081-589: The art of a master. Bethune adopted many of Laney's educational philosophies, including her emphasis on educating girls and women to improve the conditions of Black people; Bethune's approach added a focus on political activism. After one year at Haines, Bethune was transferred by the Presbyterian mission to the Kindell Institute in Sumter, South Carolina , where she met her husband. After her marriage and move to Florida, Bethune became determined to start
3160-413: The average family size was 2.77. In the city the population was spread out, with 20.0% under 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 25.4% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 24.8% ages 65 or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 79.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 75.0 males. The median income for a household in the city was $ 25,371, and the median income for
3239-433: The boys who showed up eager to learn. Laney's mission was to imbue Christian moral education in her students to arm them for their life challenges. Of her year at Laney's school, Bethune said: I was so impressed with her fearlessness, her amazing touch in every respect, an energy that seemed inexhaustible and her mighty power to command respect and admiration from her students and all who knew her. She handled her domain with
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3318-484: The brick building Faith Hall, paying them in part with free tuition. In the early days of her school, the students made ink for pens from elderberry juice and pencils from burned wood; they asked local businesses for furniture. Bethune wrote later, "I considered cash money as the smallest part of my resources. I had faith in a loving God, faith in myself, and a desire to serve." The school received donations of money, equipment, and labor from local Black churches. Within
3397-499: The center of Metropolis as East 5th Street, Ferry Street, and West 10th Street. US 45 runs geographically east–west through the area but runs north to Chicago and south to Paducah and is signed north–south. Illinois Route 145 lies east of the city and serves remote areas of nearby Shawnee National Forest . Metropolis is served by the Paducah & Illinois Railroad, jointly owned by Canadian National Railway , BNSF Railway , and
3476-518: The college had developed a four-year curriculum and achieved full college status. By 1942, Bethune gave up the presidency, as her health was adversely affected by her many responsibilities. On September 19, 1942, she gave the address at the Los Angeles, California, launching ceremony for the Liberty ship Booker T. Washington , a ceremony in which Marian Anderson christened the ship. In
3555-414: The company, he demanded half of the business' value, based on his claim that his contributions had been integral to its success. The divorce suit forced Poro College into court-ordered receivership. With support from her employees and powerful figures such as Mary McLeod Bethune , she negotiated a settlement of $ 200,000. This affirmed her as the sole owner of Poro College, and the divorce was granted. After
3634-605: The couple divorced in 1907. On April 28, 1914, Annie Turnbo married Aaron Eugene Malone, a former teacher and religious book salesman. By the 1920s, Annie Turnbo Malone had become a multi-millionaire. In 1924 she paid income tax of nearly $ 40,000, reportedly the highest in Missouri. While extremely wealthy, Malone lived modestly, giving thousands of dollars to the local black YMCA and the Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, D.C. She became
3713-526: The divorce, Turnbo moved most of her business to Chicago's South Parkway (now Martin Luther King Jr. Drive), where she bought an entire city block. Other lawsuits followed. In 1937, during the Great Depression , a former employee filed suit, also claiming credit for Poro's success. To raise money for the settlement, Turnbo Malone sold her St. Louis property. Although much reduced in size, her business continued to thrive. In 1902 she married Nelson Pope;
3792-468: The early 1900s, Daytona Beach lacked a hospital that would help people of color. Bethune had the idea to start a hospital after one of her students got appendicitis and was initially refused treatment at the local hospital. Bethune convinced the doctors to treat her student and left determined to open a hospital. She found a cabin near the school, and through sponsors helping her raise money, she purchased it for five thousand dollars. In 1911, Bethune opened
3871-479: The fictional paper in the Superman comics and other Superman media. The real town of Metropolis is portrayed in one Superman comic-book story, "Superman #92", in a story titled "Massacre in Metropolis!" (which is continued into "Adventures of Superman #515"), as a town whose citizens idolize what is to them the real-life Man of Steel. A villain named Massacre arrives in the town, having gotten lost and thinking he
3950-524: The first Black hospital in Daytona Beach, naming it McLeod Hospital after her parents. It started with two beds and, within a few years, held twenty. Both White and Black physicians worked at the hospital, along with Bethune's student nurses. This hospital went on to save many Black lives within the twenty years that it operated. During that time, both Black and White people in the community relied on help from McLeod Hospital. After an explosion at
4029-572: The glorious destiny of a true and unfettered democracy . In 1938, the NCNW hosted the White House Conference on Negro Women and Children, demonstrating the importance of Black women in democratic roles. During World War II, the NCNW gained approval for Black women to be commissioned as officers in the Women's Army Corps . Bethune also served as a political appointee and the Special Assistant to
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#17327831678024108-532: The home of the Wilsons—the family that had enslaved her mother—where she explored a play house while Patsy worked. Mary picked up a book, and one of the Wilson girls admonished her with "Put down that book, you can't read." McLeod later cited the incident as contributing to her desire for literacy and education. When she was twelve, McLeod saw a white mob attack and nearly hang a Black man. The man had refused to blow
4187-517: The majority of them to qualify for jobs heretofore closed to them. Within the administration, Bethune advocated for the appointment of Black NYA officials to positions of political power. Bethune's administrative assistants served as liaisons between the National Division of Negro Affairs and the NYA agencies on the state and local levels. The high number of administrative assistants composed a workforce commanded by Bethune. They helped gain
4266-410: The north shore of the Ohio River . It is bordered to the south, across the river, by McCracken County, Kentucky . Paducah, Kentucky , is 13 miles (21 km) to the southeast. According to the U.S. Census Bureau , Metropolis has a total area of 6.16 square miles (15.95 km ), of which 6.02 square miles (15.59 km ) are land and 0.14 square miles (0.36 km ), or 2.30%, are water. As of
4345-455: The organization so aggressively and effectively for minority involvement that she earned a full-time staff position in 1936 as an assistant. Within two years, Bethune was appointed to Director of the Division of Negro Affairs, and became the first African-American female division head. She managed NYA funds to help Black students through school-based programs. She was the only Black agent of
4424-409: The population. There were 2,896 households, out of which 24.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.6% were married couples living together, 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.0% were non-families. 36.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 20.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.13 and
4503-445: The public hospital's main location until the 1960s. Bethune made Daytona School's library accessible to the public, it became Florida's first free library accessible to Black Floridians. She hosted a weekly story hour, which hundreds of children from the county attended, and ran a boys' club. Concerned by a lack of affordable housing for Black people, Bethune leveraged her status as president to lobby for improved housing access. She
4582-549: The rebels. Afterward in 1794, President George Washington ordered Fort Massac reconstructed, at a strategic site high above the Ohio River. The fort was severely damaged by the 1811–12 New Madrid earthquakes . Rather than rebuild, the US military abandoned the facility in 1814, as its forces were needed further west. Local settlers scavenged the timbers and left little behind of the original construction materials. This section of
4661-586: The respect of Black voters as leaders. They also influenced political appointments and the disbursement of funds to organizations that would benefit Black people. Bethune coordinated with Methodist church members during the Bethune-Cookman school merger, and she became a member of the church, but it was segregated in the South. Essentially two organizations operated in the Methodist denomination. Bethune
4740-547: The resurgent Ku Klux Klan in those years. Bethune also served as the president of the Southeastern Federation of Colored Women's Clubs from 1920 to 1925, which worked to improve opportunities for Black women. She was elected national president of the NACW in 1924. While the organization struggled to raise funds for regular operations, Bethune envisioned acquiring a headquarters and hiring a professional executive secretary; she implemented this when NACW bought
4819-705: The site of the Harrah's Metropolis casino /hotel, a riverboat casino frequented by visitors from around the region. Tourism is one of the city's largest industries. Metropolis is also the site of the Honeywell Uranium Hexafluoride Processing Facility , which converts milled uranium into uranium hexafluoride for nuclear reactors . Metropolis is located in southern Massac County at 37°9′12″N 88°43′31″W / 37.15333°N 88.72528°W / 37.15333; -88.72528 (37.153332, -88.725374), on
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#17327831678024898-459: The state was largely settled by migrants from the Upper South , and many brought slaves with them. It was years after Illinois was admitted as a free state that all such slaves gained their freedom. The city of Metropolis was founded in 1839 near the site of Fort Massac by a merchant from Pittsburgh and a local land owner; the two envisioned that the location on the Ohio River would become
4977-849: The sword and the shield and buckler of pride—belief in themselves and their possibilities, based upon a sure knowledge of the achievements of the past. A year later, she wrote, Not only the Negro child but children of all races should read and know of the achievements, accomplishments, and deeds of the Negro. World peace and brotherhood are based on a common understanding of the contributions and cultures of all races and creeds. Starting in 1920, she opened her school to visitors and tourists in Daytona Beach on Sundays, showing off her students' accomplishments, hosting national speakers on Black issues, and taking donations. She ensured that these "Sunday Community Meetings" were integrated. A Black teenager in Daytona at
5056-554: The time, many women used goose fat, heavy oils, soap, or bacon grease to straighten their curls, which damaged both scalp and hair. By the beginning of the 1900s, Turnbo moved with her older siblings to Lovejoy, now known as Brooklyn, Illinois . While experimenting with hair and different hair-care products, she developed and manufactured her own line of non-damaging hair straighteners, special oils, and hair-stimulant products for African-American women. She named her new product “Wonderful Hair Grower”. To promote her new product, Turnbo sold
5135-564: The whole student; students were coached on personal style for work: on walking, talking, and a style of dress designed to maintain a solid persona. Poro College employed nearly 200 people in St. Louis. Through its school and franchise businesses, the college created jobs for almost 75,000 women in North and South America, Africa and the Philippines. Her business thrived until 1927 when her husband filed for divorce. Having served as president of
5214-427: Was able to resist a Cherokee attack during the war. Afterward the defeated French abandoned the fort, and many moved west of the Mississippi River to escape British rule. When the victorious British colonists arrived to take control of territory ceded by the French, the Chickasaw had already destroyed the fort. During the American Revolutionary War , the mostly ethnic French residents of the town were sympathetic to
5293-467: Was appointed as a national advisor and worked with Roosevelt to create the Federal Council on Colored Affairs, also known as the Black Cabinet . Honors include the designation of her home in Daytona Beach as a National Historic Landmark and a 1974 statue as "the first monument to honor an African American and a woman in a public park in Washington, D.C." She was called the "First Lady of Negro America" by Ebony magazine in April 1949. Mary Jane McLeod
5372-543: Was appointed to the city's housing board—becoming its only Black member—and she successfully pushed for a public housing project built near her school's campus. After the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment , which enacted women's suffrage, Bethune continued her efforts to help Black people gain access to the polls. She solicited donations to help Black voters pay poll taxes, provided tutoring for voter registration literacy tests at Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute , and planned mass voter registration drives. In 1896,
5451-399: Was born in 1875 in a small log cabin near Mayesville, South Carolina , on a rice and cotton farm in Sumter County . She was the fifteenth of seventeen children born to Sam and Patsy ( née McIntosh) McLeod, both former slaves. Patsy McLeod worked after emancipation for her former owner, earning enough to buy five acres from him. There, Sam and their sons built the log cabin in which Mary
5530-415: Was born. McLeod grew up hearing stories from her maternal grandmother, Sophie, about resistance to slavery, and both Sophie and Patsy told Mary that she was special. Mary credited them both with inspiring her work toward equality. McLeod recalled noticing racial inequality as a child, observing that the Black community had access to less material wealth and opportunity. She particularly remembered visiting
5609-456: Was composed of numerous talented Blacks, mostly men, who had been appointed to positions in federal agencies. This was the first collective of Black people working in higher positions in government. It suggested to voters that the Roosevelt administration cared about Black concerns. The group met in Bethune's office or apartment informally and rarely kept meeting minutes. Although they did not create public policy directly as advisors, they gained
5688-482: Was constructed on the campus and opened in 2009. In his various portrayals, Superman resides in a fictional American city named Metropolis , and on June 9, 1972, the Illinois State Legislature passed Resolution 572, declaring Metropolis the "Hometown of Superman". The city has a 15-foot-tall (4.6 m) painted bronze statue of Superman which sits in front of the county courthouse, and
5767-557: Was fundraising. A donation of $ 62,000 by John D. Rockefeller helped, as did her friendship with Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, who gave her entry to a progressive network. Beginning in 1923, Daytona School merged with the coeducational Cookman Institute; run by the Methodist church , the institute was the first Black college in Florida. Bethune became president, at a time when Black women rarely headed colleges. The merger completed in 1925 and formed Daytona Cookman Collegiate Institute,
5846-426: Was in the "other" Metropolis, the large city where Superman actually lives. He attacks a security guard and threatens many citizens in order to get proper directions to Superman's Metropolis. Mary McLeod Bethune Mary Jane McLeod Bethune ( née McLeod ; July 10, 1875 – May 18, 1955 ) was an American educator, philanthropist , humanitarian , womanist , and civil rights activist . Bethune founded
5925-550: Was named an honorary member of the Zeta Phi Beta sorority and was awarded an honorary degree from Howard University . On May 10, 1957, Annie Turnbo suffered a stroke and died at Chicago's Provident Hospital . Childless, she had bequeathed her business and remaining fortune to her nieces and nephews. At the time of her death, her estate was valued at $ 100,000. St. Louis has an annual Annie Malone parade in support of children's charities. A fictionalized version of Malone
6004-442: Was prominent in the primarily Black Florida Conference. While she worked to integrate the mostly White Methodist Episcopal Church , she protested its initial plans for integration because they proposed separate jurisdictions based on race. Bethune worked to educate both Whites and Blacks about the accomplishments and needs of Black people, writing in 1938, If our people are to fight their way up out of bondage we must arm them with
6083-477: Was run by the Presbyterian Board of Missions of Freedmen . The school was five miles from her home, and she walked there and back. Not all her siblings attended, so she taught her family what she had learned each day. Her teacher, Emma Jane Wilson, became a significant mentor in her life. Wilson had attended Scotia Seminary (now Barber–Scotia College ). She helped McLeod attend the same school on
6162-530: Was terminated in 1943. Bethune became a close and loyal friend of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt . At the Southern Conference on Human Welfare in 1938, held in Birmingham, Alabama , Eleanor Roosevelt requested a seat next to Bethune despite state segregation laws. Roosevelt also referred to Bethune as "her closest friend in her age group" frequently. Bethune told Black voters about the work
6241-533: Was the sole African American woman officially a part of the US delegation that created the United Nations charter, and she held a leadership position for the American Women's Voluntary Services founded by Alice Throckmorton McLean . Bethune wrote prolifically, publishing in several periodicals from 1924 to 1955. After working on the presidential campaign for Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932, she
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