District of Columbia

Mary McLeod Bethune, Robert Berks, 1974
Decades before the birth of Martin Luther King, Jr., Mary McLeod Bethune helped pave the way for the Civil Rights movement through her own efforts to establish racial and gender equality in the United States. Both of her parents had been slaves and a number of her own brothers and sisters were also born as slaves, but through education and determination Bethune rose to become a prominent educator, political activist and advisor to four presidents. In the sculpture, she is shown holding a scroll and a cane. The scroll represents her legacy to America's African American children, the text of which is written on the artwork's base:

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 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 men. I leave you, finally, a responsibility to our young people.

The cane was given to her by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, not to help her walk, but because her hobby was collecting the walking sticks of famous men!