B-CU founder Mary McLeod Bethune statue unveiling set for Washington, DC - Daytona Beach News-Journal

Show Caption

DAYTONA BEACH — After an arduous five-year process that involved a series of state and federal approvals, a fundraising effort that generated nearly $1 million, logistical challenges and unimagined complications that included a global pandemic, the towering marble statue honoring Mary McLeod Bethune will be unveiled this week in Washington, D.C.

At 11 a.m. Wednesday, the sculpture that was artfully chiseled out of a 13-foot-long block of precious marble will be dedicated in the U.S. Capitol Building’s National Statuary Hall.

“This is one of the most important weeks in our state’s history and in the history of our country,” said Nancy Lohman, president of the Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Statuary Fund, among a contingent of local civic leaders and elected officials who will be attending the ceremony.

“Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune’s statue unveiling and dedication is historic as the first African American — male or female — to be honored in the National Statuary Hall State Collection,” Lohman said. “I am so proud that the great State of Florida is becoming greater on July 13, 2022.”

Bethune statue visits Daytona Beach: 'This beautiful marble statue': Daytona residents get first look at new Bethune sculpture

Leaders behind the statue project: Diverse Daytona Beach group joins forces on Mary McLeod Bethune statue

More: When will Mary McLeod Bethune statues be unveiled at U.S. Capitol, Daytona? Dates are finally set

For those in Volusia County and elsewhere interested in witnessing the historic milestone, the 11 a.m. ceremony will be broadcast live on WESH-Channel 2 as well as the station’s website, wesh.com, Lohman said. There also will be a link for a livestream feed available at speaker.gov/live.

In Daytona Beach, where area leaders are bursting with pride about the national recognition of one of the city’s iconic figures, there also will be a free community watch party that starts at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Mary McLeod Bethune Performing Arts Center on the campus of Bethune-Cookman University, 698 W. International Speedway Blvd.

Those interested in attending that event, either in person or virtually, are asked to register at  BCUWatchParty.Eventbrite.com.

‘A special moment for America’

At Bethune-Cookman University, the dedication of the Bethune statue marks a “pivotal moment” in the history of the university that she founded, said Lawrence M. Drake II, interim president.

“It’s a special moment for this university, a special moment for America,” said Drake, who also will be at the Capitol for the Wednesday ceremony.

A father's story: New B-CU interim president approaches Father's Day with bittersweetness of love, loss

More: Bethune-Cookman University board elects business dean Lawrence Drake interim president

“We have an opportunity to celebrate an enormously influential woman, someone that I think is still somewhat obscure to some people,” Drake said. “There are people who don’t really know her. They may know her name or be aware of her, but this will offer the opportunity for them to look at her enormous impact, not just on Black America, but on the world.”

To honor that legacy, Statuary Hall will be filled with some of the most powerful elected leaders in the country for the unveiling ceremony.

Among those slated to attend the ceremony honoring the civil rights pioneer and champion for Black women’s advancement are Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, House Majority Whip James Clyburn, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL), U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL), U.S. Rep. Val Demings (D-FL) and U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL).

The guests also will include Daytona Beach Mayor Derrick Henry, who called the statue’s installation at the U.S. Capitol “a crowning moment” that ensures Bethune’s legacy will endure.

“Quite simply, I think this is the singular achievement in the history of our community,” Henry said. “It is the crowning glory for a woman that is worthy of sainthood, the crowning moment in her long list of great achievements.”

Bethune’s values represent the best of Daytona Beach, he said.

“If I were to describe our community as a ship, I also would describe Dr. Bethune as our rudder,” Henry said. “When we get lost, when we lose our way, we go back to the values she laid out. We can see her as our guiding light in a community that has a great history of decency.”

That spirit extends from civil rights pioneers such as Jackie Robinson, whose trailblazing path toward shattering the color barrier in baseball included a stint in Daytona Beach, to the modern-day benevolence of philanthropists such as Hyatt and Cici Brown, Henry said.

A dedication to community: Daytona Beach's $25 million Riverfront Park overhaul in full swing

“All of that is reflected in the life of Dr. Bethune, who laid a foundation for our community of civility and excellence,” Henry said.

Unity characterized statue project

At a time of widespread political division nationally, it’s a testament to the impact of Bethune’s life that the mission to honor her moved ahead without rancor, said Bob Lloyd, a key force behind the statue effort as well as the executive vice president and general counsel for Brown & Brown, Inc.

“It was not a partisan issue,” Lloyd said. “It was honoring someone that deserved to be honored, as simple as that. We weren’t worried about whether it was a woke message or an anti-woke position. It was the right thing to do.”

The unified support of that goal enabled the project to move ahead, even amid unprecedented complications that included the COVID-19 pandemic, Lloyd said.

“The world changed under our feet as we embarked on that mission,” he said. “There was a global pandemic, civil unrest in our country, the Jan. 6th events in Washington, D.C., a presidential election. We could never have expected all that in our journey, but we locked arms and remained true in the purpose of this statue when the project was first launched.”

A little over a month after the Capitol dedication, on Aug. 18, an identical bronze sculpture of Bethune will be permanently placed on the north end of Daytona Beach’s Riverfront Esplanade, the portion of the riverside park that recently reopened after a dramatic $31 million overhaul funded by the Browns.

Opening day: Daytona's new Riverfront Esplanade finally opens. Here's what locals had to say about it.

The bronze statue will face west and look directly down Mary McLeod Bethune Boulevard and toward the campus of the small school for girls Bethune started in 1904 that evolved into Bethune-Cookman University.

‘A once-in-a-lifetime occasion’

Both sculptures are the creations of master sculptor Nilda Comas, who also will be at the dedication ceremony in Washington, D.C.

Comas, who divides her time working at studios in Fort Lauderdale and Pietrasanta, Italy, spent the past few years seeking any scrap of information she could find about the trailblazing educator, stateswoman, feminist and civil rights activist.

Only then did she begin to painstakingly chisel the work out of a 13-foot-long block of marble that could be the last ever culled from the Tuscan quarry Michelangelo used for his masterpiece statue of David more than 500 years ago.

A look at the creation: Precious marble Mary McLeod Bethune statue sculpting started in Italy

For her research, Comas visited the log cabin in Mayesville, S.C., where Bethune was born in 1875, met Bethune family members, read up on her at the Library of Congress, listened to her audio recordings and looked at nearly 300 photos.

“I wasn’t familiar with her,” Comas said. “I didn’t know what she had done, so it was a beautiful journey, learning about her, getting to know her and coming up with ideas. I wanted a portrait that she would like, that would encompass her achievements.”

Now that the towering marble creation is being unveiled, Comas shares the pride expressed by Daytona Beach leaders about the result.

“She will be the first African American in the Statuary Hall collection; that’s historic,” she said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime occasion.”

Adblock test (Why?)

https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/2022/07/10/b-cu-founder-mary-mcleod-bethune-statue-unveiling-set-washington-d-c/7825790001/

2022-07-11 02:21:20Z
CBMiiQFodHRwczovL3d3dy5uZXdzLWpvdXJuYWxvbmxpbmUuY29tL3N0b3J5L25ld3MvMjAyMi8wNy8xMC9iLWN1LWZvdW5kZXItbWFyeS1tY2xlb2QtYmV0aHVuZS1zdGF0dWUtdW52ZWlsaW5nLXNldC13YXNoaW5ndG9uLWQtYy83ODI1NzkwMDAxL9IBAA

Bagikan Berita Ini