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News / Announcements
A maroon-and-gold wreath rested beside the words carved at Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune's campus gravesite: “She has given her best that others may live a more abundant life.” It was a fitting beginning to a day that asked more than remembrance from the people gathered in her honor.
Bethune-Cookman University marked the 151st anniversary of its Founder's birth on July 9 with a series of observances that carried her story from campus to the wider Daytona Beach community. University leaders, employees, alumni and guests gathered for wreath-laying ceremonies at her gravesite and at the statues that preserve her image in public life. The celebration then widened its focus, welcoming children and families to free activities at Daisy Stocking Park before inviting guests into the Carl S. Swisher Library for an encounter with B-CU's archival collections.
The result was more than an annual tribute. Through a partnership with the City of Daytona Beach, the day connected civic memory, family engagement and historical learning — three ways of showing that Dr. Bethune's legacy belongs not only to the past, but also to the next generation.
“Each year, we gather to celebrate Dr. Bethune's life while recommitting ourselves to the principles she championed through faith, education and service.” — President Albert D. Mosley
Dr. Bethune's relationship with Daytona Beach is inseparable from the university she founded here in 1904. The July 9 program made that shared history visible. The campus observance offered a quiet moment of reflection, while the community gathering created a welcoming space for families to learn and celebrate together.
At Daisy Stocking Park, children moved between games, pony rides and a bounce house. B-CU leaders joined the fun, but the program also carried an educational purpose. Children posed with copies of “Happy Birthday, Mother Mary,” a coloring book created to introduce Dr. Bethune's life in a format young readers could explore for themselves. University production records show that 100 copies were prepared ahead of the event.
The coloring book gave families something that could travel home with them. A child could color, read and ask questions long after the tents came down — extending a one-day celebration into an invitation to know the woman whose name appears across the university and the city.
B-CU leaders and guests place a wreath at Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune's campus gravesite during the July 9 observance. Photo: John Reeves / Bethune-Cookman University.
The final movement of the day took place inside the Carl S. Swisher Library, where guests viewed historic photographs, documents and objects in display cases and on exhibit tables. An archival presentation used images and interpretation to trace Dr. Bethune's life and work, giving visitors access to material many had never seen.
That experience matters because archives turn familiar history into evidence. Photographs reveal faces, settings and relationships. Documents preserve decisions and language. Objects show how a national leader lived and worked. Together, they allow visitors to encounter Dr. Bethune not as a distant symbol, but as an educator and organizer whose ideas took shape through disciplined action.
The library program also highlighted B-CU's responsibility as a steward of its Founder's history. Preserving the record is only the first step; sharing it helps students, families, scholars and neighbors understand why that record continues to matter.
Visitors study historic photographs and documents during the archival presentation in the Carl S. Swisher Library. Photo: John Reeves / Bethune-Cookman University.
President Mosley said the anniversary celebrates both Dr. Bethune's extraordinary legacy and the responsibility to carry her vision forward by preparing the next generation of leaders to make a meaningful difference in the world.
The design of the day made that responsibility concrete. The wreaths honored what Dr. Bethune accomplished. The City partnership welcomed the public into the celebration. The coloring book placed her story in children's hands. The archives invited visitors to look closely at the record she left behind.
Together, those experiences offered a fuller answer to why B-CU marks its Founder's birthday each year. The celebration is not simply about looking back. It is about helping another generation recognize the possibilities Dr. Bethune saw — and accept the work of carrying them forward.
