--- description: Mary McLeod Bethune is one of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century. title: Mary McLeod Bethune: 100 Women of the Year image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd3fbec28016abad3/698a0af797cdff65706ba6a4/social-1934_Mary-McLeod-Bethune.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 1934: Mary McLeod Bethune Mar 5, 2020 11:34 AM CUT  Chicago History Museum/Getty by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 5, 2020 11:34 AM CUT Mary McLeod Bethune’s résumé was already peppered with superlatives and onlys, but in 1934 the civil rights activist was a woman on the brink of the most political power wielded by an African-American woman to date. By continually lobbying the federal government to tend to the needs of African Americans, she had already gained the ear of Presidents Coolidge and Hoover. As the nation reeled during the Great Depression, she pushed Roosevelt to pay attention to [black Americans too](https://time.com/5783869/gig-economy-inequality/ "undefined"). Soon, the former teacher and women’s group organizer would step into an official [New Deal](https://time.com/4249815/emergency-banking-relief-act/ "undefined") role as head of the National Youth Administration’s Division of Negro Affairs and head of what would be known as FDR’s “Black Cabinet,” becoming the highest-ranking African-American woman in government and the first ever to head a federal department. During her government tenure, she fought for integration and against [segregation](https://time.com/5527029/jim-crow-plessy-history/ "undefined"), discrimination and [lynching](https://time.com/longform/south-lynching-history/ "undefined"). As a colleague once said, “No one can do what Mrs. Bethune could do.” _—Erin Blakemore_ _Blakemore is a journalist and the author of_ [The Heroine’s Bookshelf](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061958778/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0061958778&linkId=90176c94ffa8bd78c7b61c4134d84959 "undefined") --- _This article is part of_ [_100 Women of the Year_](https://time.com/100-women-of-the-year/ "undefined")_, TIME’s list of the most influential women of the past century. Read more_ [_about the project_](https://time.com/5793734/time-100-women-of-the-year-issue/ "undefined")_, explore the_ [_100 covers_](https://time.com/5793732/time-100-women-of-the-year-covers/ "undefined") _and sign up for our_ [_Inside TIME newsletter_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/newsletters?newsletter%5Fname=INSIDE%5FTIME&source=article-woy-footer "undefined") _for more._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5792787/mary-mcleod-bethune-100-women-of-the-year/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5792787/mary-mcleod-bethune-100-women-of-the-year/"},"headline":"1934: Mary McLeod Bethune","datePublished":"2020-03-05T11:34:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T08:20:07.922Z","description":"Mary McLeod Bethune is one of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century.","url":"https://time.com/5792787/mary-mcleod-bethune-100-women-of-the-year/","keywords":["Women of the Year"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd3fbec28016abad3/698a0af797cdff65706ba6a4/social-1934_Mary-McLeod-Bethune.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd3fbec28016abad3/698a0af797cdff65706ba6a4/social-1934_Mary-McLeod-Bethune.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SOCIAL - Women of the Year: 1934_Mary-McLeod-Bethune","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5792787/mary-mcleod-bethune-100-women-of-the-year/","name":"1934: Mary McLeod Bethune"}}]}] ```