Mary Jane McLeod, whose parents had been slaves, was born near Mayesville, South Carolina, in 1875. Her parents told her that she was born at about the same time as a white girl in the community. Thus she chose this same date for her own birthday.

The McLeods owned their own little cotton farm and both parents and children worked in the cotton patch. Mr. and Mrs. McLeod were very religious and thankful to be free, even though they were exceedingly poor. Mary Jane's closest friend was her brother Willie, who often teased her for fun.

The only book which the McLeods owned was the Big Book, or family Bible, which no one in the family could read. One day Mary Jane saw a beautiful story book at a white girl's home which attracted her attention. She wondered what the black marks meant and formed a desire to learn how to read.

Later a church organization started a school for Negro children at Mayesville, five miles away. Mary Jane, eager to learn how to read, begged her parents to let her enroll in this school. She trudged back and forth to Mayesville five days a week and gradually became one of the best pupils in school.

A couple of years after Mary Jane graduated from Mayesville, she obtained a scholarship to attend Scotia Seminary in Concord, North Carolina. Three years later she graduated and became a teacher in the school. Next she attended Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, hoping to become a missionary in Africa.

Following graduation from Moody Bible Institute, she lacked an opportunity to go to Africa and decided to return South to work among her own people. She taught in several locations and married a teacher named Albertus Bethune. Finally she started a school for Negro Children at Daytona Beach, which became Bethune-Cookman Institute.

Mrs. Bethune served for many years as President of Bethune-Cookman Institute. Afterward she accepted an invitation by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to enter government service. In time she became revered as a humanitarian and received many honors and awards.

The author, Olive W. Burt, has written six other books in the Childhood of Famous Americans Series. As an author she possesses the rare ability of making characters come to life for her readers. In writing this book, she portrays vividly and accurately the story of a great Negro teacher and humanitarian. 

From the dust jacket