NPS Photo Celebrating 50 Years of the Bethune MemorialThis year, the National Park Service, with support from the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) and Bethune-Cookman University, is celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the unveiling and dedication of the Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial and the 149th Anniversary of the Birth of Mary McLeod Bethune in Lincoln Park!We will have a Re-dedication Ceremony on Saturday, July 13, 2024 at 3:30 pm at Lincoln Park. After the Memorial Re-dedication, join us for park ranger-led tours, exhibits, hands-on activities and the following programs: Re-dedication Ceremony - 3:30 pmRe-dedication Ceremony will mirror the original 1974 program, including remarks by leaders of the US Department of Interior and National Council of Negro Women, reading of Mrs. Bethune’s Last Will and Testament by students from the Washington School for Girls, performances by the “President’s Own” Marine Band and the Bethune-Cookman University Choir, and a grand unveiling and rededication of the memorial.Concert by DC Strings Workshop - 5:00 pm DC Strings Workshop builds community and expands horizons by engaging diverse audiences and works to expose students and adults to music of women and underrepresented people of color. They have performed at many venues including the Kennedy Center and other National Park Sites. "Meet Mrs. Bethune" - 6:00 pm as performed by Actor, Leslie Jones Known for her oratory skills, Mary McLeod Bethune championed the rights of African Americans and women both in America and abroad. Jones' presentation will highlight key moments of Mrs. Bethune's life, selected excerpts from her most famous speeches, and a lively question and answer period with the audience. Music by the Tribe Band - 7:00 pm In keeping with the 1970s flavor of the original memorial dedication, The Tribe Band will play among their repertoire of Motown, Gospel, Smooth Jazz, and Funk.
Getting There: There is limited parking around Lincoln Park. There will be free event parking at St. Coletta’s School, located at 1901 Independence Avenue, S.E. Visitors can take free event shuttle buses, including an accessible bus, to the park. There will also be a drop-off zone on the East Capitol Street, S.E., adjacent to Lincoln Park. Visitors can also take Metro to the Stadium-Armory Metro Station on Metro’s blue, orange and silver lines. Exit from the station’s south entrance between C Street and Burke Street, S.E. There will be a free event shuttle stop on the corner of 19th & Burke streets adjacent to St. Coletta’s school to take visitors to the event. The walk from the metro to Lincoln Park is about eight blocks. 
NPS / NABWH Celebrating Mary McLeod BethuneWho doesn’t love a good birthday celebration?Each year, the National Park Service honors Mary McLeod Bethune with events on or around her birthday. Each of these events highlight her amazing life and showcases her legacy for all to remember. Mrs. Bethune—educator, civil rights activist, presidential advisor, public servant, and champion of women’s rights—was born on July 10, 1875 in Mayesville, South Carolina. In 1974, on what would have been her 99th birthday, a memorial in her honor was unveiled in Lincoln Park in Washington, D.C. by the organization she founded, the National Council of Negro Women, Inc. (NCNW). Each year, we incorporate that Memorial into our programming to honor its dedication as the first memorial to an African American and a woman erected on public land in the nation’s capital.
NPS, NABWH Past CelebrationsDuring her lifetime, Mary McLeod Bethune’s birthday was often used as a platform for fundraising for the NCNW, as well as Bethune-Cookman University, the school she established in Daytona Beach, Florida. During her time in Washington, D.C., there were a number of events held right here in the nation's capital that included venues like the D.C. Armory, Phyllis Wheatley YWCA, and even Griffith Stadium. For several years, the Homestead Grays, a Negro Leagues baseball team, collaborated with the NCNW and sponsored baseball games at Griffith Stadium to help the NCNW in the fundraising efforts for the construction of the Liberty Ship S. S. Harriet Tubman.After Mrs. Bethune’s death in 1955, these birthday celebrations continued. Under the administration of Dorothy I. Height, NCNW’s fourth national president, luminaries such as Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, actress Cicely Tyson, comedian Dick Gregory, executive/activist Vernon Jordan, and Mrs. Coretta Scott King took part in the NCNW-sponsored celebrations, which helped to bring a visibility to the national organization and Mrs. Bethune’s legacy. 
Johnson Publishing Company LegacyHow do you want to be remembered?Your legacy is how you will be remembered by others based on how you lived and what you contributed. You can chose your legacy by being intentional about your values, your actions, and your impact. Your legacy can include material possessions, your family, your faith, your generosity, your standards, and your influence. Your legacy is a reflection of who you are and what you care about. There are no words that can be more strengthening than the words of one of the greatest personalities of the twentieth century, who in her last literary pronouncement, left a legacy that has become one of the greatest historical documents of our time. These same words or tenets of her Last Will and Testament or "Legacy" are found around the base of the Bethune Memorial in Lincoln Park. They are also found here below:
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Last updated: July 18, 2024