EVOLVE Business and Entrepreneur Magazine First Coast Region - October 2021 | Page 38

for African-American families , annually drawing thousands of visitors from all over the country and remained so until segregation ended in the 1960s .
Today , lots that sold for as little as $ 590 in 1947 are now filled with multi-million-dollar homes .
Investments in others
Throughout her life , Dr . Bethune saw promise in a myriad of Black business owners and invested in their endeavors accordingly . Among these entrepreneurs was Sarah Breedlove , better known as Madame C . J . Walker , who , like Dr . Bethune , was born to previously enslaved sharecroppers . Madame Walker is credited for developing and marketing a line of cosmetics and hair care products for Black women , thus making her the first recorded , self-made female millionaire .
Dr . Bethune saying goodbye to a group of students in front of White hall after resigning as president of the college
Dr . Mary McLeod Bethune at her desk
Dr . Bethune was instrumental in the promotion of a Madame Walker ’ s beauty care line and in a letter to the beauty mogul , dated April 5 , 1917 , praised the benefits of the products on her own as well as her students ’ hair and requested that one of her girls participate in Madame Walker ’ s beauty training course at her New York College .
She was also instrumental in the success of the aforementioned Engram Electric , contracting most of the electrical projects for Bethune-Cookman University with the company .
Closer to home , Dr . Bethune founded Bethune Mortuary in the 1940s . Operated by her son , Albert McLeod Bethune , with his wife serving as mortician , the funeral home proved to be a lucrative business for more than 25 years .
“ She dabbled in many different businesses ,” said Dr . Tasha L . Youmans , Library Dean / Chief Librarian at Bethune- Cookman University . “ She saw a need ; she established a business to meet that need .”
Dr . Mary McLeod Bethune and Marian Anderson at the launching of the SS Booker T Washington , a US Maritime Commission Liberty ship
Community Recognition
In honor of her many contributions to Daytona Beach , the country and especially the Black community , an 11-ft , white marble statue of Dr . Bethune , created by master sculptor Nilda Comas , will be erected at the U . S . Capitol ’ s Statuary Hall later this year after making a stop in Daytona Beach .
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