Mary McLeod Bethune served as President Franklin Roosevelt’s special advisor on minority affairs and eventually became the first African American woman to head a federal office. Her Vermont Ave home, where she lived for seven years, was the first headquarters of the National Council of Negro Women, which Bethune established in 1935. Tours cover Bethune’s life, and exhibits, lectures and workshops on black history are held here as well.
In March 2018, Florida legislators voted to place a statue of Bethune in National Statuary Hall, making Bethune the first African American to be honored in this way.
