Collection of digital images, documents, and other records from the Mary McLeod Bethune Foundation located on the Bethune-Cookman University campus at 640 Doctor Mary McLeod Bethune Boulevard in Daytona Beach, Florida. The foundation was established on March 17, 1953, as “a place to awaken people and to have them realize that there is something in the world they can do.”

The foundation is housed in the Mary McLeod Bethune Home, which was inhabited by educator and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955). Also known as “The Retreat,” the home was built by African American A. B. Raddick around 1905. In 1913, chemist James Norris Gamble and Thomas White of White Sewing Machine Company, purchased the home for Bethune. On December 2, 1974, the historic house was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. In 2006, the museum closed for renovation and conservation. It reopened in April of 2011.

To view the collection on the interactive map, click here.