Mar 24, 2022 - Sale 2598

Sale 2598 - Lot 381

Price Realized: $ 344
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 500 - $ 750
(WOMEN'S HISTORY.) Donation tin for the Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial Fund. Metal box, 4 1/2 x 3 1/4 x 1 1/2 inches, with slotted lid and unlocked hinged base, illustrated with a portrait of Bethune, lightly stamped "901" on back; light tape stains across front and sides, other minor wear. Washington: National Council of Negro Women, circa early 1960s
Set Alert for Similar Items

Additional Details

The fund was launched circa 1960 to build a monument to the great educator and activist Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955); the National Council of Negro Women left the 1318 Vermont Avenue headquarters noted here circa 1965. The statue was unveiled by the Council in Washington in 1974, and was the first on public land in the capital to honor a Black American or a woman. It is emblazoned with the same words seen on one side of this donation box: "I leave you love. I leave you hope. I leave you the challenge of developing confidence in one another. I leave you a thirst for education. I leave you a respect for the use of power. I leave you faith. I leave you racial dignity. I leave you a desire to live harmoniously with your fellow men. I leave you, finally, a responsibility to our young people."