FLORIDA31) Mary McLeod Bethune Home and White Hall The Mary McLeod Bethune Home, a National Historic Landmark, was the home of prominent educator Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955) from the 1920s until her death. Mrs. Bethune is best remembered for her role in promoting education for African American children. She was the founder of the United Negro Women of America and director of the Division of Negro Affairs in Franklin Delano Roosevelt's National Youth Administration. In 1904 Mrs. Bethune moved to Daytona to establish her own school. On October 3, 1904, the Daytona Educational and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls was opened in a small cottage near the railroad tracks. It soon included boys and within two years had four teachers and 250 pupils. A new site where the school could continue to expand was secured, and Faith Hall was constructed in 1907. By 1914, the school outgrew tiny Faith Hall, and in 1916 White Hall, a handsome Georgian Revival style brick building, was constructed. Renamed the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute, it was the first high school for black students in the area. Concerns about the financial stability of the school led to a merger with the Cookman Institute, a school for boys in Jacksonville. In 1923, the Bethune-Cookman Institute (later Bethune-Cookman College) was founded with Mary McLeod Bethune as its first president.
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White Hall and the Mary McLeod Bethune Home are found at 640 Second Avenue, on the campus of Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona Beach.