12th Annual Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Women’s Conference

Bethune Cookman University is hosting the 12th Annual Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Women’s Conference, an annual event designed to honor women from both local and wider communities who have demonstrated commitment to Dr. Bethune’s goals and whose actions honor her legacy. The 2022 conference theme is “African American Women’s Health and Well-Being.” This conference is open to the public and free to attend on March 24th and 25th, but registration is required.

The conference is supported in part through the work of Bethune Cookman University Oral History Collection. Oral histories have been collected and shared since 2001 to inform constructive dialogues about racial injustice, African American history, politics and government, and the social and community history of the African diaspora. The panel related to the BCU Oral History Collection is called Oral History Podcasts Florida Humanities Community Engagement Grant and is being hosted from 12:45 P.M. – 2:00 P.M. This panel discussion will examine four ways in which the Oral History Collection has been used in education, and how oral histories have been collected from and have influenced the local community.

• “Getting to Know Mary McLeod Bethune” represents an innovative educational approach whereby high school students were shown “The Untold Story” and “Historic Second Avenue”, Bethune Cookman University Oral History Collection documentaries as teaching tools
• “President Oswald Perry Bronson, Sr.” examines Bronson’s early meeting with Mary McLeod Bethune and his interactions with Bethune when he matriculated at Bethune Cookman College ·
• “The Untold Story” is a 24-minute documentary about Mary McLeod Bethune as told by some individuals who worked or studied with Bethune and other individuals who have been empowered by Bethune ·
• “Historic Second Avenue” is a 15-minute documentary which follows the history of the ‘Midtown” neighborhood and the changing relationships between the “town and gown” over the years.

Please visit the registration link to learn more about this and other conference sessions. This panel is supported through a Florida Humanities Community Project Grant in partnership with Bethune Cookman University.