The ongoing COHP Centennial Oral History Project interviews commemorate the 100-plus year history of Bethune Cookman University. In 2002, Oral History students began to identify, research and interview individuals with long relationships with the school, including several individuals who personally knew, worked with and experienced the direct influence of Mrs. Bethune. In the College of Liberal Arts, our B-CU Public History faculty and students are inspired to learn more about our founder, preserve remembrances, and tell the story of Bethune’s legacy and our school.

‘The Untold Story’ documentary was compiled to highlight interviews from the Centennial Oral History Project (COHP). ‘The Untold Story’ title suggests Bethune’s monumental impact went beyond Daytona Beach, Florida at Bethune Cookman College (BCC), but was strongly felt in Washington D.C. and the Civil Rights Movement in the United States of America.

Hear Dr. Bethune’s voice and remembrances from former President Oswald Perry Bronson and his wife Helen, 2nd Avenue business owner Mr. Clifford “Pop” Jenkins, Dr. Bethune’s personal and business secretary Mrs. Senorita Locklear, former Provosts and Vice-Presidents of Academic Affairs, Dr. Cleo Higgins and Dr. Ann Taylor-Green, former BCC Business Manager Mr. James Huger, longtime faculty members Dr. Marian Speight, Dr. Mary Alice Smith, Dr. Jake Miller, Dr. Theodore Nicholson, former city councilman Mr. Bernard Smith, Mrs. Freddie Harris and others. BCC Oral History students conducted interviews and learned how to edit them from Mr. Sylvester Polk, Music Recording Technology professor. Polk joined his sons in the “Polk Brothers” a cappella rendition of Dr. Bethune’s favorite hymn ‘Leaning on the Everlasting Arms’.

Two essays presented here, “ Mary McLeod Bethune and Bethune Cookman College”, and “BCC Students Discover the Past” honor Mary McLeod Bethune as a Central Florida hero and visionary who motivated and impacted those with whom she came into contact and generations that follow.

The BCU Oral History Collection represents the work of hundreds of BCU students and interviewees. Since 2001, students in the School of Social Sciences, now the College of Liberal Arts courses, specifically Oral History and African American History, have continuously studied the vision and impact of Mary McLeod Bethune as well as the rich history of Bethune Cookman University and blacks in Florida.

We are indebted for the arrangement between the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) and Bethune-Cookman University to place Robert F. Smith Fund interns offsite at BCU. We invite suggestions and advice on our projects and are gauging interest in creating Alumni Oral History Projects.


Featured Biographies

  James Ermine Huger Sr. James Ermine Huger, Sr. was born in Tampa, Florida on January 4, 1915, to Reverend Thomas Albert and Rosetta Williams Huger. Huger came to Daytona Beach when he was in eighth grade earning his high school diploma and associate’s degree at Bethune-Cookman College. James Ermine Huger Sr.

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Cleo HigginsCleo Mildred Surry was born August 25, 1923, in Memphis, Tennessee. She grew up and attended elementary and high school in Arkansas and Illinois. After graduating from DuSable High School in Chicago as the class Salutatorian in 1940, she went on to continue her education at LeMoyne College in Memphis, Tennessee on a four-year full-tuition scholarship. Cleo Higgins

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More Biographies


“The Untold Story” documentary was compiled for the Humanities Advisory Council Seminar in 2005 to highlight interviews from the Centennial Oral History Project (COHP). ‘The Untold Story’ title suggests Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune’s monumental impact not only locally in Daytona Beach, Florida at Bethune Cookman College (BCC), but also in Washington DC and in the Civil Rights Movement in the United States of America.

Hear Dr. Bethune’s voice and remembrances from former President Oswald Perry Bronson and his wife Helen, 2nd Avenue business owner Mr. Clifford “Pop” Jenkins, Dr. Bethune’s personal and business secretary Mrs. Senorita Locklear, Former Vice-Presidents of Academic Affairs, Dr. Cleo Higgins and Dr. Ann Taylor-Green, former BCC Business Manager Mr. James Huger, longtime faculty members Dr. Marian Speight, Dr. Mary Alice Smith, Dr. Jake Miller, Dr. Theodore Nicholson, former city councilman Mr. Bernard Smith and others. BCC History students conducted interviews and learned how to edit them from Mr. Sylvester Polk, a Music Recording Technology professor. Polk joined his sons in the “Polk Brothers” a cappella rendition of Dr. Bethune’s favorite hymn ‘Leaning on the Everlasting Arms’.

Project Created By Dr. Jeannette Ford, Associate Professor. Produced & Edited by Maurice Hendricks - Robert Frederick Smith Fund Intern Summer 2019.