Forces for Change exhibition image

Forces for Change

Mary McLeod Bethune and Black Women’s Activism
Communicator Award of Excellence logo Davey Award 2023 Silver Vega Award logo Davey Award 2023 Anthem Award 2024

Forces for Change: Mary McLeod Bethune and Black Women’s Activism explores renowned educator and reformer Mary McLeod Bethune (1875–1955) and other Black women social change agents, past and present. 

About the Gallery

  • When: Ongoing
  • Where: Level 3 (L3), "Making a Way Out of No Way" Exhibition, Community Galleries 
  • Curatorial Team: Michèle Gates Moresi, Katy Kendrick, Tulani Salahu-Din and Angela Tate
Reserve Passes
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963 © Jim Wallace

The Experience

Opening July 19, 2024, "Forces for Change: Mary McLeod Bethune and Black Women’s Activism" is a dynamic reimagining of the space dedicated to Mary McLeod Bethune and the National Council of Negro Women.

 

Photograph of a woman holding a sign that reads "Black Women Matter."

The Collection

Featuring 75 images, 35 artifacts, a multimedia film, an interactive engagement, and an eight-foot-tall plaster sculpture of Mary McLeod Bethune, this gallery illuminates connections across time to Black women changemakers who continue Mary McLeod Bethune's social justice legacy. 


Explore the Collection

Donation tin for the Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial Fund

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
View Object

Circular desk calendar owned by Mary Church Terrell

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Ray and Jean Langston in memory of Mary Church and Robert Terrell
View Object

Silk rose worn by Sybrina Fulton at the 2016 DNC

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin in memory of Trayvon Martin
View Object

Who was Mary McLeod Bethune?

Mary McLeod Bethune worked on multiple fronts to advance the struggle for freedom and equality. She opened doors for Black women to claim their citizenship rights and take an active role in shaping American democracy. 

Start Your Journey

A Closer Look

Go behind the scenes with museum experts as they redesign the new gallery.

Acquiring the Bethune Statue

Learn how the museum obtained a plaster model of the Mary McLeod Bethune marble statue that now stands in the Capitol building.

Moving 'Ms. Mary'

Shipped from Italy to the museum, this plaster model—affectionately known among museum staff as 'Ms. Mary'—will stand inside the redesigned gallery dedicated to Bethune's life and legacy.

Explore & Share

Journey through history across time and genre in our Searchable Museum. 

Women United, Vol. 9, No. 1, April 1949, National Council of Negro Women, Inc.

The NCNW expanded its influence and impact under the leadership of Mary McLeod Bethune's successors, including Dorothy I. Height, who led the organization from 1957 to 1998. Through its publications and programs, the NCNW has targeted a wide range of issues, from voting rights and international relations to education, employment, and health care. Today, a new generation of NCNW leadership is continuing the fight to make social justice a reality for Black women, their families, and communities.

National Park Service, Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site

Mary McLeod Bethune and the National Council of Negro Women

Bethune’s commitment to African American women’s political empowerment found its greatest and most lasting expression through the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), the organization she founded in 1935.

Explore the Legacy
 
3 Sections

Mary McLeod Bethune: A Force for Change →
The National Council of Negro Women →
Issues on the Table →

Women united . . . have moved mountains. Mary McLeod Bethune President, National Council of Negro Women, 1949