Mary McLeod Bethune left this
last will and testament.
"Sometimes I ask myself if I have any other legacy to
leave. Truly my worldly possessions are few. Yet my
experiences have been rich. From them, I have distilled
principles and policies in which I believe firmly for they
represent the meaning of my life's work ... Here, then is my
legacy:
I leave you love. Love builds. It is positive and hopeful.
Loving your neighbor means being interracial, inter-religious
and international."
"Papa, I want an education." The black man looked at
his young daughter. Her large eyes were serious. The child had
a keen mind. She was a bundle of energy. Yes, his Mary was
certainly a candidate for an education.
She was born in July 1875, in a log cabin built by her father
and brothers about five miles from Mayesville and 12 miles
from Sumter. Her whole life was a struggle. She was the 15th
of the 17 children of Samuel and Patsy McLeod and was the
first of their children to be born free. Biographers say,
although there is no record, it is probably that her father's
people were among the 500,000 Africans smuggled out of Africa
in the decade following the first prohibition of importation
of slaves.
It is certain that her ancestry is totally African and this
was a point of pride to her throughout her life. Bethune died
May 18, 1955 -- not quite 80 years old -- and is buried on the
campus of Bethune-Cookman College near Daytona Beach, Fla.
The anecdotes that chronicle Mary McLeod Bethune's fierce
determination in the face of almost insurmountable odds are
many. She craved learning the way her father wanted a good
crop, but once she quit the Presbyterian Mission School in
Mayesville because her father's mule had died. She said she
was "the only one at home strong enough to pull the
plow." She prayed for a miracle so that she could return
to school. Her prayers were answered through a scholarship to
Scotia Seminary, now Barber-Scotia College, in Concord, N.C.,
given by a Quaker seamstress from Colorado. Many times later,
in her speeches and writings, she was to speak of that moment
in her life. To her, it was proof of victory through prayer.
After she married and moved to Daytona Beach, Fla., she still
believed education was something all children should have.
School on a shoestring
A few black public schools began to open in the South, and
Bethune spent the next eight years teaching in such schools.
In Daytona Beach, she divided her time between teaching and
making and selling sweet potato pies to begin the school that
had been her dream for so many years.
With $12.50 in her pocket, she started her school. Impossible
-- totally impossible. No one could start a college with
$12.50 ... no one at all ... unless it happened that the
"someone" was Mary McLeod Bethune. Education and the
development of the mind became a major emphasis of Bethune-Cookman
College.
Besides education, a second major emphasis of hers was the
enhancement of the lifestyle of black women. Her famous motto
urged them to develop "self control, self respect, self
reliance and race pride." To accomplish this, she moved
to Washington, D.C., where she founded the National Council of
Negro Women. Her Washington townhouse at 1318 Vermont Ave.,
N.W., became the headquarters and has been designated a
national historic site.
A third major emphasis of Bethune's was the influencing of
national policies to aid the nation's underprivileged in the
struggle for upward social movement. To this end, she
undertook personal appearances and countless private appeals.
Those who hear her speak say she had a compelling oratorical
style. She had a natural dramatic style and in her speeches,
called on a wealth of personal experience with discrimination
and justice.
In 1983, her memory was honored by her home state and she was
inducted into the South Carolina Hall of Fame. Mary McLeod
Bethune became the first woman of any race to be memorialized
by a portrait hanging in the State House of South Carolina in
1976. In 1985, the U.S. Postal Services honored Bethune with a
22-cent commemorative stamp.
unless he or she really wants to learn."
Bethune was able to elevate the simple, but distinctive
culinary art of the women who came to help in the early years
at Daytona Beach. At her request, they would make fish
sandwiches and sweet potato pies, which Bethune sold to the
workers who laid the historic Flagler Railroad tracks. These
tracks lie some six blocks east of Bethune-Cookman College --
the child of her heart. On Founder's Day, the college dining
facility serves the traditional fish and sweet potato pies.
No "queen of the kitchen," Bethune simply did not
include cooking in her busy agenda, but she carefully informed
others around her -- family members, relatives, chefs,
hostesses and friends -- of her tastes and food preferences.
High on her list of favorites were chicken and rice
(especially rice); string beans and asparagus (among the
relatively few vegetables she like, she called green
vegetables "medicine"); brown sugar cookies (one
before bedtime); Jello (preferably lemon flavored); pound
cake; tapioca pudding; lemonade and strong black tea.
Once when she was asked what it took to start Bethune-Cookman
College, organize the National Council of Negro Women, preside
over the Negro Division of the National Youth Administration
and do all the other remarkable things she managed to do,
Bethune replied by saying, "It took faith in God and
faith in myself."
With this response, she cited what she regarded as the two
basic ingredients of a successful life.
Around the McLeod household in Mayesville, the reality of God
was accepted uncritically and Mary Jane McLeod, as she was
christened, recognized by age 8 the value of believing and
trusting unequivocally in a sovereign power. By allying
herself with such power, she believed she could invite God to
become intimately involved in her history. Such a holy
alliance would open the way for her to rise above the fact
that she was born black, female and poor to fulfill her
destiny as a leader of her race and nation.
She also recognized early on that faith in God without faith
in one's self is meaningless. By all accounts, her life was a
success because it was a blend of two basic ingredients: faith
in God and faith in herself.
"I leave you racial dignity. I want Negroes to maintain
their human dignity at all costs. We as Negroes must recognize
that we are custodians as well as the heirs of a great
civilization. I would not change my color for all the wealth
in the world, for had I been born white, I might not have been
able to do all I have done or yet hope to do."
Bethune did nothing more than persevere in what she knew was
right, but in the process, she became a national symbol of
what robust faith could do. Mary McLeod Bethune -- a woman to
be recognized during Women's History Month. She left us love,
hope, faith, racial dignity, responsibility and most
importantly, a thirst for education.
-------------------
When Bethune needed money in 1904 to keep the school doors
open, she baked and sold sweet potato pies. Her recipe is
below.
MARY MCLEOD BETHUNE'S SWEET POTATO PIE
Filling:
9 medium sweet potatoes or yams (about four pounds)
1 Cup (2 sticks / 2 dl) butter or margarine, softened
½ Cup (1 dl) granulated sugar
½ Cup (1 dl) firmly packed brown sugar
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp nutmeg
3 eggs, well beaten
2 Cups (4 dl) milk
1 Tbsp vanilla
Crust:
3 unbaked 9-inch classic Crisco single crusts (See recipe
below).
For filling, boil sweet potatoes until tender. Peel and mash.
Heat oven to 350° F (180° C).
Combine butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt and nutmeg
until creamy. Beat in sweet potatoes until well mixed. Beat in
eggs. Beat in milk and vanilla slowly. Spoon into 3 unbaked
pie shells, using about 4 cups (8 dl) of filling per shell.
Bake at 350° F (180° C) for 50 to 60 minutes or until set.
Cool to room temperature before serving. Store in
refrigerator.
Yield three 9-inch pies.
CLASSIC CRISCO CRUST
8-, 9- or 10-inch (20, 22.5, 25 cm) single crust
1-1/3 Cups (2-2/3 dl) all-purpose flour
½ tsp salt
½ Cup (1 dl) Crisco shortening (vegetable shortening e.g.
Palmin)
3 Tbsp cold water
Combine flour and salt in bowl. Cut in Crisco using pastry
blend or two knives until all flour is blended in to form
pea-size chunks.
Sprinkle with water, one tablespoon at a time. Toss lightly
with form until dough will form a ball. Press dough ball
between hands to form 5-to 6-inch "pancake." Flour
rolling surface and rolling pin lightly. Roll dough into
circle.
Trim 1 inch largest than upside down pie plate. Loosen dough
carefully. Fold into quarters. Unfold and press into pie
plate. Fold edge under and flute.
For recipe calling for unbaked pie shell, follow baking
directions given in that recipe. For recipe calling for baked
pie shell, heat oven to 425° F (220° C). Prick bottom and
sides thoroughly with fork (50 times) to prevent shrinkage.
Bake at 425° F (220° C) for 10 to 15 minutes.
BETHUNE FRUIT SALAD
Fruit mixture:
1 Cup (2 dl) cubed cantaloupe (1/2-inch / ca. 1-½ cm cubes)
1 Cup (2 dl) cubed honeydew melon (1/2-inch / ca. 1-½ cm
cubes)
1 Cup (2 dl) cubed fresh pineapple (1/2-inch / ca. 1-½ cm
cubes)
2 peaches sliced
1/2 pound grapes, whole or halved lengthwise
2 oranges, peeled and sliced
1 can mandarin oranges, drained
2 bananas, sliced
Sauce:
1 carton dairy sour cream (or crème fraiche ca. 250 g)
1 Cup (2 dl) firmly packed brown sugar
Juice of 1 orange
Juice of 1/2 lemon
3 Tbsp pineapple juice
1 tsp cinnamon
Garnish
4-6 maraschino cherries, optional
For fruit mixture, combine cantaloupe, honeydew, pineapple,
peaches, grapes, oranges and mandarin oranges in large bowl.
Refrigerate.
For sauce, combine sour cream, brown sugar, orange juice,
lemon juice, pineapple juice and cinnamon in medium bowl.
Refrigerate.
To serve, add bananas to fruit mixture. Spoon into individual
dishes. Top with sauce. Garnish with cherries.
FRIED MEALED CATFISH
2-3 Cups (4-6 dl) shortening (or vegetable oil for frying)
1 Cup (2 dl) corn meal
½ Cup (1 dl) all-purpose flour
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
½ tsp garlic salt
½ tsp onion salt
1 pound boneless catfish
Heat shortening to 365° F (185° C) in deep fryer or deep
saucepan. Combine corn meal, flour, salt, pepper, garlic salt
and onion salt in paper or plastic bag.
Put 3 or 4 pieces of fish in bag. Shake until well coated.
Fry fish until brown and tender.
