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A Passionate Mind in Relentless Pursuit: The Vision of Mary McLeod Bethune
An intimate and searching account of the life and legacy of one of America’s towering educators, a woman who dared to center the progress of Black women and girls in the larger struggle for political and social liberation
When Mary MacLeod Bethune died, many of the tributes in newspapers around the country said the same she should be on the “Mount Rushmore” of Black American achievement. Indeed, Bethune is the only Black American whose statue stands in the rotunda of the U.S. Capital, and yet for most Americans, she remains a marble figure from the dim past. Now, seventy years later, Noliwe Rooks turns Bethune from stone to flesh, showing her to have been a visionary leader with lessons to still teach us as we continue on our journey towards a freer and more just nation.
Any serious effort to understand how the Black Civil Rights generation found role models, vision, and inspiration during their midcentury struggle for political power must place Bethune at its heart. Her success was the 15th of 17 children and the first born into freedom, Bethune survived brutal poverty and caste subordination to become the first in her family to learn to read and to attend college. She gave that same gift to others when in 1904, at age 29, Bethune welcomed her first class of five girls to the Daytona, Florida school she herself had founded. In short order, the school enrolled hundreds of children and eventually would become the university that bears her name to this day. Bethune saw education as an essential dimension of the larger struggle for freedom, vitally connected to the vote and to economic self-sufficiency. She played a big game, and a long game, enrolling Eleanor Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and many other powerful leaders in her cause.
Rooks grew up in Florida, in Bethune's her grandparents trained to be teachers at Bethune-Cookman University, and her family vacationed at the all-Black beach that Bethune helped found in one of her many entrepreneurial projects for the community. The story of how—in a state with some of the highest lynching rates in the country—Bethune carved out so much space, and how she catapulted from there onto the national stage, is, in Rooks’ hands, a moving and astonishing example of the power of a will and a vision that had few equals. Now, when the gains and losses in the long struggle for full Black equality in this country feel particularly near—and centered on the state of Florida—, it is an enormous gift to have this brilliant and lyrical reckoning with Bethune’s journey from one of our own great educators and scholars of that same struggle.
When Mary MacLeod Bethune died, many of the tributes in newspapers around the country said the same she should be on the “Mount Rushmore” of Black American achievement. Indeed, Bethune is the only Black American whose statue stands in the rotunda of the U.S. Capital, and yet for most Americans, she remains a marble figure from the dim past. Now, seventy years later, Noliwe Rooks turns Bethune from stone to flesh, showing her to have been a visionary leader with lessons to still teach us as we continue on our journey towards a freer and more just nation.
Any serious effort to understand how the Black Civil Rights generation found role models, vision, and inspiration during their midcentury struggle for political power must place Bethune at its heart. Her success was the 15th of 17 children and the first born into freedom, Bethune survived brutal poverty and caste subordination to become the first in her family to learn to read and to attend college. She gave that same gift to others when in 1904, at age 29, Bethune welcomed her first class of five girls to the Daytona, Florida school she herself had founded. In short order, the school enrolled hundreds of children and eventually would become the university that bears her name to this day. Bethune saw education as an essential dimension of the larger struggle for freedom, vitally connected to the vote and to economic self-sufficiency. She played a big game, and a long game, enrolling Eleanor Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and many other powerful leaders in her cause.
Rooks grew up in Florida, in Bethune's her grandparents trained to be teachers at Bethune-Cookman University, and her family vacationed at the all-Black beach that Bethune helped found in one of her many entrepreneurial projects for the community. The story of how—in a state with some of the highest lynching rates in the country—Bethune carved out so much space, and how she catapulted from there onto the national stage, is, in Rooks’ hands, a moving and astonishing example of the power of a will and a vision that had few equals. Now, when the gains and losses in the long struggle for full Black equality in this country feel particularly near—and centered on the state of Florida—, it is an enormous gift to have this brilliant and lyrical reckoning with Bethune’s journey from one of our own great educators and scholars of that same struggle.
207 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 23, 2024
32 people are currently reading
3108 people want to read
About the author
Noliwe Rooks
6 books52 followersNoliwe Rooks is the director of American studies at Cornell University and was for ten years the associate director of African American studies at Princeton University. She is the author of Cutting School (The New Press) as well as White Money/Black Power and Hair Raising . She lives in Ithaca, New York.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
August 14, 2024
4.5 Stars!
I wanna start off by saying this book is not a biography of Mary McLeod Bethune the person. It's a look at her political philosophy. This book is a good introduction to the early Civil Rights movement. Mary McLeod Bethune's importance mostly forgotten today. If you've heard of her at all it's probably through her relationship with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt or the University that bears her name Bethune-Cookman University. She was extremely important to the pre 1950s Civil Rights movement. She was the first Black woman to establish a historically Black college for Black girls. She was also the first to establish a Black hospital in the stare of Florida.
It's really tragic how her importance has been forgotten because everything that more famous later Civil Rights leaders would use, started with her. She is the first to recognize that we needed to use the federal government, voting rights, Black capitalism, economic development and Black organizations to pull the Black community up. She also realized that the Black underclass was just as important as the Black upperclass. Poor people under educated Black people are just as important as the more financially stable educated class in the struggle for Black Civil Rights.
Women in the Civil Rights movement are often pushed aside or erased from history because the patriarchy is colorblind. Black men are just as sexist as white men.
Overall this is a great place to start if you want to know what the post Civil War pre 1950s Civil Rights movement was about. And if you just enjoy reading about strong smart women. It's a quick and easy read.
I Highly Recommend this book!
I wanna start off by saying this book is not a biography of Mary McLeod Bethune the person. It's a look at her political philosophy. This book is a good introduction to the early Civil Rights movement. Mary McLeod Bethune's importance mostly forgotten today. If you've heard of her at all it's probably through her relationship with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt or the University that bears her name Bethune-Cookman University. She was extremely important to the pre 1950s Civil Rights movement. She was the first Black woman to establish a historically Black college for Black girls. She was also the first to establish a Black hospital in the stare of Florida.
It's really tragic how her importance has been forgotten because everything that more famous later Civil Rights leaders would use, started with her. She is the first to recognize that we needed to use the federal government, voting rights, Black capitalism, economic development and Black organizations to pull the Black community up. She also realized that the Black underclass was just as important as the Black upperclass. Poor people under educated Black people are just as important as the more financially stable educated class in the struggle for Black Civil Rights.
Women in the Civil Rights movement are often pushed aside or erased from history because the patriarchy is colorblind. Black men are just as sexist as white men.
Overall this is a great place to start if you want to know what the post Civil War pre 1950s Civil Rights movement was about. And if you just enjoy reading about strong smart women. It's a quick and easy read.
I Highly Recommend this book!
January 31, 2025
2.5. I wish this book had more substance. Even as a short primer on Mary McLeod Bethune, it focuses a lot on Rooks’s upbringing and her family history, disparate bits about Black American history (not during Bethune’s lifetime). I did not mind those asides, but thought those asides took time away from a more centered Bethune history through the years. She seemed like a formidable woman and leader, and I would’ve like to learn more about her. It really is more a book about legacy, statues, and how historical figures shape us.
September 11, 2024
5 stars
Always a good thing to learn about yet another woman of color that history conveniently forgot
Always a good thing to learn about yet another woman of color that history conveniently forgot
March 11, 2025
Love reading a book that shines lights on those in history that should have always been known to us. So good!
September 17, 2024
First, this book is not a biography of Bethune's life. It highlights her important work and her views but doesn't give us as much about her life as I wanted.
Some chapters of this book were very informative and interesting. But other chapters barely mentioned Bethune. Those chapters were a combination of historical facts and experiences or thoughts of the author. Not that those chapters were bad, but they left me disappointed we were not getting more about Bethune.
It is worth noting that there was also an incorrect year listed for a significant historical event.
Some chapters of this book were very informative and interesting. But other chapters barely mentioned Bethune. Those chapters were a combination of historical facts and experiences or thoughts of the author. Not that those chapters were bad, but they left me disappointed we were not getting more about Bethune.
It is worth noting that there was also an incorrect year listed for a significant historical event.
January 23, 2025
2.5 To be frank, this book is erroneously titled. As many other readers have mentioned, this book is more a collection of thoughts through essays than an in depth look into Bethune’s life. I sadly didn’t leave this read with any new information. Though I know there will be readers that do. I appreciate that this read will inspire readers to learn more about Bethune’s life but it wasn’t at all what I was hoping for.
October 29, 2024
This was a powerful and exciting book for me! Ms. Bethune, the woman that you are!!!
February 28, 2025
As much about side tangents and the author as it was Bethune. The anecdotes were interesting but the book ultimately felt unfocused and thin on actual information about its central figure.
Read
December 25, 2025very embarrassing that I had only heard McLeod’s name in passing before, she was and continues to be such a monumental part of history
October 14, 2024
This is a time limited biography of a woman I had never heard of who had tremendous influence in her time.
Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955) was her parents’ 15th child and the first one born free. She fought for civil rights during the grim period between the end of Reconstruction and the post–World War II Civil Rights Movement. She founded schools, with an emphasis on educating Black girls, and she raised money to pay poll taxes and offered instruction on how to pass literacy tests for Black Americans trying to vote in the Jim Crow South. She served in the leadership of numerous civil rights and mutual aid organizations, from the NAACP to the National Council of Negro Women, and she advocated for the Black community as an adviser to three presidents.
How did she do it? This is yet another example of what Eleanor Roosevelt did to lift up both African Americans as well as women in her time. In the early winter of 1938, Eleanor Roosevelt took a stand when she followed her friend, Mary McLeod Bethune into the Southern Conference for Human Welfare and sat beside Bethune, defying the racist Public Safety Commissioner of Birmingham, Alabama. That’s an account that’s easy to find anywhere, and it’s thrilling, but the story misses something: at one point, the conference’s organizer asked for “Mary” to come up to the platform.
Bethune drew herself up and told the organizer “My name is Mrs. Bethune.” She heard the disrespect and she corrected it.
The author identifies this as a personal work for her--she states that her grandparents knew Bethune and, in doing research for this book, her understanding of Bethune was totally changed. Bethune was more than an activist — she was also a dream maker and “the first lady of Black America.” This is a short read, but fascinating and again, if you didn't already love Eleanor Roosevelt, this will add on to the pile of miracles she performed.
Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955) was her parents’ 15th child and the first one born free. She fought for civil rights during the grim period between the end of Reconstruction and the post–World War II Civil Rights Movement. She founded schools, with an emphasis on educating Black girls, and she raised money to pay poll taxes and offered instruction on how to pass literacy tests for Black Americans trying to vote in the Jim Crow South. She served in the leadership of numerous civil rights and mutual aid organizations, from the NAACP to the National Council of Negro Women, and she advocated for the Black community as an adviser to three presidents.
How did she do it? This is yet another example of what Eleanor Roosevelt did to lift up both African Americans as well as women in her time. In the early winter of 1938, Eleanor Roosevelt took a stand when she followed her friend, Mary McLeod Bethune into the Southern Conference for Human Welfare and sat beside Bethune, defying the racist Public Safety Commissioner of Birmingham, Alabama. That’s an account that’s easy to find anywhere, and it’s thrilling, but the story misses something: at one point, the conference’s organizer asked for “Mary” to come up to the platform.
Bethune drew herself up and told the organizer “My name is Mrs. Bethune.” She heard the disrespect and she corrected it.
The author identifies this as a personal work for her--she states that her grandparents knew Bethune and, in doing research for this book, her understanding of Bethune was totally changed. Bethune was more than an activist — she was also a dream maker and “the first lady of Black America.” This is a short read, but fascinating and again, if you didn't already love Eleanor Roosevelt, this will add on to the pile of miracles she performed.
October 16, 2024
Amazing woman but book was very dense factually thus dry and did not have much of a personal view of Bethune but more of the author.
January 7, 2025
The parts of this book I found the most interesting weren’t about Bethune at all, which is nothing against Bethune—who is extremely inspiring—or the writer, but everything to do with my own personal history with Amelia Island, which was randomly mentioned in his book. I was captivated by the history of southern reconstruction and black property told in his book. It’s a subject I know was skimmed over in my history classes and something I am so interested in.
January 9, 2025
Chanced upon this at my local library. Reminiscent of Annette Gordon-Reed’s ON JUNETEENTH, but I didn’t find what I’d hoped for here.
April 1, 2025
4.5 stars for me! I think this was great and everyone should learn about this woman! a traiblazer in community organizing, lobbying and the suffrage a lot of the rights, as well as some institutions wouldn’t be here for Black/ African Americas, (Bethune-Cookman and the Tuskegee Airmen!) without her existence. This is more relevant now more than ever, and although I expected a more history heavy book, I really enjoyed Rooks take on the philosophy of action that Bethune took on, and how that same philosophy and can be used to shape our current one.
“Bethune’s school and philosophy of education combined teaching, education, entrepreneurship, mutual aid, and electoral politics. It was a vision of how best to push back against white supremacy and its declaration of Black inferiority.”
I loved learning about the little things like how she wore glasses without prescription lenses because she liked them or walked around with a cane, it really humanized her and how her struggle was one that everyone can relate to, but she was also uniquely unrelenting in her pursuit for. It’s so interesting to see similar relationship dynamics play out with black american adults in the 19th and 20th century, and how conflict didn’t stop change from occurring, (notably because the most progressive people stand firm in their values). The prose on this is great as, well, made this an enjoyable reading experience, despite not being what I expected!
“Land, violence, family, capital, property, community, and freedom mean the same things in different eras, even as the context for understanding how it all connects is necessary. Dead Africans, slave-owning Black women, a Black man named Abraham Lincoln, a Black woman who got a white president to donate land to start a Black beach. It all connects as imperfectly and incompletely as anything ever thought. What I think connects it all is understanding that the right to own land, to keep it once it is owned, to create community, to begin businesses, and to know peace are and always have been the perennial problems to which one generation after another of Black people in the United States has returned.”
If you don’t know much about this woman go read about her because her legacy is alive and well!! (Statues in DC and a university where she’s buried, what else you need?).
“Bethune’s school and philosophy of education combined teaching, education, entrepreneurship, mutual aid, and electoral politics. It was a vision of how best to push back against white supremacy and its declaration of Black inferiority.”
I loved learning about the little things like how she wore glasses without prescription lenses because she liked them or walked around with a cane, it really humanized her and how her struggle was one that everyone can relate to, but she was also uniquely unrelenting in her pursuit for. It’s so interesting to see similar relationship dynamics play out with black american adults in the 19th and 20th century, and how conflict didn’t stop change from occurring, (notably because the most progressive people stand firm in their values). The prose on this is great as, well, made this an enjoyable reading experience, despite not being what I expected!
“Land, violence, family, capital, property, community, and freedom mean the same things in different eras, even as the context for understanding how it all connects is necessary. Dead Africans, slave-owning Black women, a Black man named Abraham Lincoln, a Black woman who got a white president to donate land to start a Black beach. It all connects as imperfectly and incompletely as anything ever thought. What I think connects it all is understanding that the right to own land, to keep it once it is owned, to create community, to begin businesses, and to know peace are and always have been the perennial problems to which one generation after another of Black people in the United States has returned.”
If you don’t know much about this woman go read about her because her legacy is alive and well!! (Statues in DC and a university where she’s buried, what else you need?).
April 7, 2025
Bethune was an amazing force. This short book had me reading articles going back more than a century.
Every time I read any kind of biography, or memoir, it opens the door to doing more research on the other hundred people mentioned within that person‘s sphere of influence. Noliwe Rooks’ journey brought her closer to an even stronger connection and shows how Bethune’s life was instrumental in so many aspects of our every day living that most people don’t even realize. She butted heads with some other recognizable “personalities” as well as formed major alliances that changed the world in more ways than most will ever imagine.
More to come..
Every time I read any kind of biography, or memoir, it opens the door to doing more research on the other hundred people mentioned within that person‘s sphere of influence. Noliwe Rooks’ journey brought her closer to an even stronger connection and shows how Bethune’s life was instrumental in so many aspects of our every day living that most people don’t even realize. She butted heads with some other recognizable “personalities” as well as formed major alliances that changed the world in more ways than most will ever imagine.
More to come..
March 21, 2025
A short but moving book on the legacy and political philosophy of Mary McLeod Bethune. I was amazed at the incredible impact she had on our country’s history and policies—an impact I was largely unaware of until reading this book. So glad I know her story now!
March 11, 2025
I learned so much about an American treasure. Must read. Reminds me that the history we learned in school was incomplete.
January 1, 2025
I picked this book up at our library on the new book display. I had heard of Mary McLeod Bethune but did not know any details of her life and the pioneering spirit of her movement for Black women so I decided to read about her and I learned so much about her - so much courage, persistence, dignity , forward thinking and a true force for the future of Black women in her time and in today’s world. I also liked the follow up writings, history and future of today’s Black women by Noliwe Rooks and her own personal journey.
September 29, 2024
This was a short and quick history of Mary McLeod Bethune, but also just the context of where she was and the reminders of everything that was happening in history to hold Black people back (voting, redlining, beaches)… I think the author did an amazing job of reading between the lines when it comes to leading women. Being able to recognize the controversy that a leader beyond her time brings is interesting.
November 9, 2024
This was a fascinating read, but I wish it had been longer and more of a traditional biography. Every piece we got in this book was riveting, but I still want more and I feel like I still have significant gaps in my most basic understanding about Bethune's life. I need a chronological, 400+ page book about her!
February 21, 2025
I learned quite a bit in this book. I really didn't know anything about Bethune before picking this up. I do wish it had been more in depth about her life specifically. There was a lot of context about the early days of the Civil Rights movement that were nice, but not specifically about Bethune. Still, it was a good, quick read.
December 5, 2024
I was incredibly impressed by all Mary Bethune was able to accomplish and the number of different ways she tackled racism. I also appreciated the elements of memoir showing us what Mary meant to the author. I just wish that this had been longer and had more primary sources to draw on!
February 16, 2025
Fantastic book on the life, vision, legacy and insight of Mary McLeod Bethune. She was a true visionary and strategic planner. I’m blown away by her life’s work and impact. The author Noliwe Rooks did a wonderful job amplifying this iconic leader.
November 25, 2024
Historical book about this influential female in United States history
December 29, 2024
I am very interested in her life after reading The First Ladies. However, this book fell flat and DNF.
April 1, 2025
I sought out this book after my bookclub read the book "First Ladys" which focuses on the relationship and collaborations between Mary McLeod Bethune and Eleanor Roosevelt.
My quest to find out more about Bethune, an educator and activist throughout her life, initially came up dry. Yes, there were several biographies but none in my local library.
A few months later a book club colleague announced that she found a recently published book "A Passionate Mind in Relentless Pursuit. The Vision of Mary McLeod Bethune", written by Nowiwe Rooks. Since it was listed as a "book to come" in my local library I checked out other sources and found a copy in my university’s new acquisition collection. Was worth the trouble. Was not the book I expected.
The book starts with a very nice review of Mary Bethune's major life accomplishments and more are covered in the following chapters. Bethune's challenges are explored nicely as are her many significant accomplishments. Near the end of the book (especially chapter 6), the author strays from her main topic to paint a picture of the world during Bethune’s time and the challenges faced by others, the final one returns to Bethune in her final years. In many sections, the author reflects on the topic from the perspective of her own life and the lifestyle of those around her.
If you are looking for a detailed review of Bethune's life and accomplishments this book is not for you.
If you are seeking a very nicely written book that examines or refreshes your memory of Mary McLeod Bethune's life, challenges, and accomplishments, this book is for you.
My quest to find out more about Bethune, an educator and activist throughout her life, initially came up dry. Yes, there were several biographies but none in my local library.
A few months later a book club colleague announced that she found a recently published book "A Passionate Mind in Relentless Pursuit. The Vision of Mary McLeod Bethune", written by Nowiwe Rooks. Since it was listed as a "book to come" in my local library I checked out other sources and found a copy in my university’s new acquisition collection. Was worth the trouble. Was not the book I expected.
The book starts with a very nice review of Mary Bethune's major life accomplishments and more are covered in the following chapters. Bethune's challenges are explored nicely as are her many significant accomplishments. Near the end of the book (especially chapter 6), the author strays from her main topic to paint a picture of the world during Bethune’s time and the challenges faced by others, the final one returns to Bethune in her final years. In many sections, the author reflects on the topic from the perspective of her own life and the lifestyle of those around her.
If you are looking for a detailed review of Bethune's life and accomplishments this book is not for you.
If you are seeking a very nicely written book that examines or refreshes your memory of Mary McLeod Bethune's life, challenges, and accomplishments, this book is for you.
September 16, 2024
Over the past 10 years, I've read and listened to quite a number of books on the Civil Rights movement in the 19th and 20th centuries, about the fight and accomplishments of African Americans as they stove and continue to strive for equality, to be heard and recognized, and to make the world a better place for everyone, most especially for people of color.
Mary Macleod Bethune is one of those women whose voice was heard and respected. So a short study of her political philosophy and her accomplishments is exactly what I needed, especially on a road trip.
Author Noliwe Rooks provides an academic study complete with biography, philosophy, and her own interjections about how Mrs. Bethune's life & legacy impacted her own.
If you are looking for a straight biography, read
"The First Ladies" by Marie Benedict. If you want some thing that's more focused on civil rights and equality, try this one.
For a review of the performance (not yet linked on GR), see AudioFile Magazine http://www.audiofilemagazine.com
Mary Macleod Bethune is one of those women whose voice was heard and respected. So a short study of her political philosophy and her accomplishments is exactly what I needed, especially on a road trip.
Author Noliwe Rooks provides an academic study complete with biography, philosophy, and her own interjections about how Mrs. Bethune's life & legacy impacted her own.
If you are looking for a straight biography, read
"The First Ladies" by Marie Benedict. If you want some thing that's more focused on civil rights and equality, try this one.For a review of the performance (not yet linked on GR), see AudioFile Magazine http://www.audiofilemagazine.com
November 27, 2025
My enthusiasm for this book was tempered by my expectation that this would be a biography about an amazing, strong woman who accomplished so much in challenging times. Instead it is more of a series of essays that includes much of the author's life experiences and her commentaries of life for African Americans in early to mid part of 20th century. And many of the essays focus on specific parts of Bethune's amazing diverse life from starting a school for Black children in pre integration Florida-with no money, her work on changing focus of Black Women's groups from the social and focus on upper middle class Black lives to strong advocacy on issues that faced all Black Americans, and her work on the community concerns like using Black capital for beach parks and homes. A favorite essay includes her tension with W.E.B DuBois and Walter White during the start of the UN-where she showed her strength
So yes, a good book that includes insight into one of the most amazing woman, well human for that matter, in the 20th century. But I do look forward to reading a more comprehensive biography in the future
So yes, a good book that includes insight into one of the most amazing woman, well human for that matter, in the 20th century. But I do look forward to reading a more comprehensive biography in the future
November 3, 2024
So this was almost more a biography of Bethune's thought and political activity more than a biography of her - it certainly didn't follow the classic "birth to death" biography format. Still, I learned a whole lot about Mary McLeod Bethune, one of my early heroes (back from when I read a collective biography that included her, Susan B. Anthony, Jane Addams, Amelia Earhart, and Margaret Mead) and it was (since my nonfiction bandwidth is pretty small in the midst of law school) that it was a compact volume and a quick audio read.
November 6, 2024
I'm so confused. Based on the book title, cover, and description, I thought this was a biography on Mrs. McLeod Bethune. To my surprise, the book was less about her and more about the thoughts and feelings of the author, other historical figures, and civil rights stories that just barely related to Bethune. It just feels like the author used someone else's good name to sell her personal essays... anyways, if anyone has a recommendation on a good biography on Mrs. McLeod Bethune, I'm still looking!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews