People, Locations, Episodes

Bethune-Cookman College is Founded

On this date, in 1904, Bethune-Cookman University was founded. It is among over 100 Historically Black Colleges and Universities in America (HBCUs).

Activist and educator Mary McLeod Bethune founded it as a normal and industrial school for Black girls in Daytona Beach, FL. She started in a rented house with only five students, and in less than two years, she attracted 250 pupils. By 1916, the school had grown into the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute and was affiliated with the United Methodist Church.

After absorbing the Cookman Institute for boys in Jacksonville, the newly christened Bethune-Cookman College was established as a high school with junior college courses in 1924. Despite the heavy financial squeeze of the Great Depression, Bethune-Cookman became a two-year college in 1939, a four-year college shortly after, and received a Grade A accreditation in 1947, the last year of Dr. Bethune’s presidency.

In 1990, Bethune-Cookman was the only Historically Black College founded by a woman. It is the sixth-largest of the 39-member UCNF colleges, with a student body nearing 3,000. Bethune-Cookman offers Bachelor of Science degrees in 39 major areas through six academic divisions: Business, Education, Humanities, Nursing, Science/Mathematics, and Social Sciences.

The Commission accredits the College on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the Florida State Department of Education, the University Senate of the United Methodist Church, the AMA Committee on Allied Health Education and Accreditation, the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, the Accreditation Commission for Programs in Hospitality Administration National League for Nursing.  Notable alumni include Theodore Lawless, Henry Lyons, and others.