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DC Trip 2024➤

Our congressman came through with tickets to visit the White House in October of 2024. So my husband and I took a long weekend to visit Washington, DC. He hadn’t been to many of the sites, so we spent a few days visiting the various National Park Service units. We toured several memorials, monuments and other sites, including the Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site.

Mary McLeod Bethune Council House➤

We began our second day in Washington, D.C. with a visit to the Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site. We arrived just before opening, and the ranger had barely unlocked the front door when we stepped inside. Since we were the only visitors that morning, we received a personal tour of the house’s two floors. I had recently read The First Ladies, a historical novel that features Mary McLeod Bethune, and our guide was familiar with the book. It made the stories he shared feel even more vivid and personal.

Mary McLeod Bethune was a world-renowned educator, civil rights leader, and public servant. Born in 1875 to formerly enslaved parents, she went on to found the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute for Negro Girls, which later became Bethune-Cookman University. Her work in education and advocacy opened doors for countless African Americans, especially women.

The townhouse that now serves as the National Historic Site was both Bethune’s last home in Washington, D.C. and the first headquarters of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW). From this home, Bethune and the NCNW developed programs and strategies that advanced the rights and opportunities of African American women across the country.

Our ranger-led tour took us through rooms filled with period furnishings, photographs, and documents that told the story of Bethune’s remarkable life and the women she inspired. Standing in her office, it was easy to imagine her meeting with leaders, writing letters, and shaping policies that changed history. The visit offered a powerful reminder of how much one person’s vision and determination can influence generations to come.

2024 DC Trip Posts➤

• WWI Memorial
• The White House
• White House Tour Pt 1
• White House Tour Pt 2
• Lockkeeper’s House
• Martin Luther King Memorial
• FDR Memorial
• Jefferson Memorial
• Korean War Memorial
• Lincoln Memorial
• Constitution Gardens
• Washington Monument
• Mary McLeod Bethune Council House
• Rock Creek Park
• Supreme Court
• Capitol
• Library of Congress
• Theodore Roosevelt Island
• George Washington Parkway
• LBJ Memorial Grove
• Ford Theater
• Belmont-Paul
• Frederick Douglas

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Location: 1318 Vermont Ave NW, Washington, DC
Designation: National Historic Site
Date designated/established: October 15, 1982
Date of my visit: October 25, 2024