Historical Scene with Mary McLeod Bethune
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Object Details
- Artist
- William H. Johnson, born Florence, SC 1901-died Central Islip, NY 1970
- Sitter
- Mary McLeod Bethune
- Exhibition Label
- Mary McLeod Bethune (1875--1955) was one of the most important educators and Civil Rights activists of the twentieth century. She opened a school for African American girls in Daytona Beach, Florida, that merged with the Cookman Institute to form the coeducational Bethune-Cookman College in 1931. Johnson shows students studying anatomy, biology, and dance on the right; his portrait of Bethune anchors the left. In the lower left, she passes the presidency of the college to her successor, James Colston. The two men embracing at the center remain unidentified. They may have been involved with Bethune-Cookman College or part of a coalition of Black leaders Bethune worked with who also served as an informal advisory board to President Franklin Roosevelt's administration (the so-called Black Cabinet). The latter group fought for the inclusion of African Americans in New Deal programs during the Great Depression and was a precursor to the 1960s civil rights movement.
- Credit Line
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation
- ca. 1945
- Object number
- 1967.59.651
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- Painting
- Medium
- oil on paperboard
- Dimensions
- 37 1/2 x 28 1/2 in. (95.2 x 72.5 cm)
- See more items in
- Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
- Department
- Painting and Sculpture
- On View
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, 1st Floor, West Wing
- Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Topic
- Figure group
- Architecture
- African American
- Occupation\education\student
- Animal\cattle
- Portrait female
- Record ID
- saam_1967.59.651
- Metadata Usage (text)
- Not determined
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk76a262b65-eafb-48bc-a88a-2dfb7e3e1533
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