Mary McLeod Bethune

About the Book

Mary McLeod Bethune, distinguished educator, humanitarian and churchwoman, was a living legend. Born the fifteenth child of freed slaves in Mayesville, South Carolina, she grew up to be an advisor to four presidents of the United States and Founder of Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona Beach, Florida. She was Director of the Division of Negro Affairs of the National Youth Administration under Franklin D. Roosevelt. She was the founder of the National Council of Negro Women which spearheaded the drive for the Memorial as authorized by the 86th through the 92nd Congress and the President of the United States. The Memorial is the first to a black American or a woman to be erected in a public park in our nation's capital. Mrs. Bethune left the nation one of its richest legacies. Just prior to her death in 1955 she wrote, in part, her Last Will and Testament.... "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 Man...I Leave You, Finally, a Responsibility to our Young People."

About the Author

Dr. Martin, a twin, was born September 21, 1926 in Lynchburg, Virginia. He attended Lynchburg schools, graduating from E. C. Class High School in 1943 where he was elected to membership in The National Honor Society, Quill and Scroll Writers Club, and served as Business Manager of the school newspaper, the High Times. He was graduated from Lynchburg College in 1952 with a major in Religion and Philosophy. He attended Garrett- Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois where he was awarded a Master of Divinity in 1955. He received a M.A. degree from Northwestern University in 1958 in the field of Sociology of Religion. His thesis was entitled “Mary McLeod Bethune, A Prototype of the Rising Social Consciousness of The American Negro.” He received a Ph.D in Sociology from Walden University in 1977, having written a dissertation entitled, “Extended Family Substitutes Utilized By The Isolated Nuclear Family Having Teenage Members.” He is an ordained Elder in the United Methodist Church, a member of the Virginia Annual Conference, having served pastorates in Illinois, Virginia, and North Carolina. While in North Carolina, he also served as an associate professor of Sociology and headed the Social Science Department at Methodist College in Fayetteville. Before going to Fayetteville he also served as a high school English teacher. He and the former Margaret Gatewood Adams have been married for more than fifty years and have three children, Kathryn M. Crone, and husband Donald Wayne, Earl Scott Martin, and John Adams Martin. They also have one grandchild, Kelly Martin Crone. The Crones reside in Lynchburg, Virginia. Scott and John live in the Tidewater area of Virginia. Since retiring, he has served as interim pastor of several churches in the Lynchburg area and is currently an active member of Heritage United Methodist Church where he and Margaret jointly head the Senior Ministries. He is a student of Disciples Bible Study and helped found the Lynchburg/Central Virginia Emmaus Community where he and Margaret continue active. He continues to preach on occasion.