HONORING
DR. MARY McCLEOD BETHUNE
AT 150
A Public Digital Humanities Project Led by
Crystal A. deGregory, Ph.D.
Hero. History. Signature.
Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune
turned faith into infrastructure.
A living, digital monument to her life, leadership, and lessons.
The Bethune at 150 Syllabus — also known as #Bethuneat150 — is a living, collaborative digital project commemorating Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune’s sesquicentennial by building an open, multimedia archive of her life, leadership, and lessons.
YOUR CONTRIBUTION
DIRECTLY SUPPORTS
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Professional design + hosting
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Curation + annotation of resources
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Her Voice Still Speaks (5-episode mini-podcast)
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Preservation for generations
Your investment transforms memory into method and helps make faith visible through action.
“Invest in the human soul.”
— Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune
invest
“The story of Mary McLeod Bethune is arguably the most important American story still untold.”
— Dr. Crystal A. deGregory
untold
“Faith is the first factor in a life devoted to service...”
— Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune
faith
Join us in building
the digital monument Dr. Bethune deserves.
editorial review board
Crystal is a Nashville-based historian, storyteller, and public scholar whose work centers Black education, women’s leadership, and cultural memory. She is the founding director of the Mary McLeod Bethune Institute for the Study of Women and Girls and the creator of HBCUstory.
Leadership focus
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Sets editorial vision and interpretive framework
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Guides contributor recruitment, content selection, and final review
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Ensures scholarly rigor and public accessibility across the syllabus
Crystal A. deGregory, Ph.D.
Founder & Editorial Director
An experienced Director of Library Services at Fisk University and Ph.D. Candidate at Middle Tennessee State University, DeLisa brings deep expertise in library leadership, archival access, public history, community engagement, and grant-funded project management.
Leadership focus
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Strengthens archival access, source clarity, and research integrity
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Guides resource curation with an emphasis on usability for educators and community learners
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Supports public-facing interpretation rooted in library and public history practice
DeLisa Minor Harris
Associate Editor
With more than three decades of marketing and design experience, Linwood leads the project’s visual direction and design strategy—ensuring the Bethune at 150 Syllabus is evocative, accessible, and aligned with the site’s “digital monument” purpose.
Leadership focus
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Builds the project’s visual identity and user experience
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Clarifies the content hierarchy through dynamic, responsive design
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Ensures brand consistency across web + multimedia assets
Linwood Hawkins Jr.
Creative Director
Benjamin O. Watson is a business educator who teaches Digital Marketing and Sports & Entertainment Marketing. A digital archivist and visual storyteller specializing in the restoration and colorization of historic photographs, his work brings historical figures and everyday Black life into a sharper, and more public history by making the past feel immediate and alive.
Leadership focus
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Leads the ethical restoration and colorization of historical photographic materials
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Strengthens visual interpretation as a core method of public history and cultural memory
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Advances archival accessibility through human-centered image storytelling
Benjamin O. Watson
Historical Photo Restoration Lead
Bethune at 150 is a digital-first public humanities project commemorating Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune’s sesquicentennial through an open, multimedia archive of her life, leadership, and lessons.
It connects scholars, educators, students, and communities through her enduring influence on education, women’s leadership, and freedom work.
The Project
What It Means
Dr. Bethune turned faith into infrastructure.
The Bethune at 150 Syllabus follows her blueprint — transforming memory into method and history into hope.
This project sits in the lineage of Black public humanities: remembrance into resistance, knowledge into power.
Dr. deGregory has personally funded the purchase of www.bethuneat150.org and commissioned the official logo, designed to mirror Dr. Bethune’s radiant legacy.
She is guiding the project to completion—gratis—as a labor of love and devotion. Remaining needs include professional design, development, and hosting for the project’s permanent home.
What's Been Done
Why Now
The world needs her wisdom — her blueprint for collective progress, her belief in the human soul, and her faith in what people can build when given knowledge and opportunity.
This project stands as both testimony and invitation: a reminder that we are still building the world she dreamed.
Your Contribution Directly Supports
-
Professional design + hosting
-
Curation + annotation of resources
-
Her Voice Still Speaks (5-episode mini-podcast)
-
Preservation for generations
Your investment transforms memory into method and helps make faith visible through action.
Help Populate the Syllabus
Help populate the Bethune at 150 Syllabus by submitting materials that reflect Dr. Bethune’s life, leadership, and legacy.
What You Can Submit
We welcome resources across genres and formats — from scholarship to storytelling, archives to art.
Categories include:
Autobiographical • Biographical • Non-Fiction • Institutional History • Fiction • Juvenile Literature • Speech • Article • Video • Audio • Database • Visual
Media types include:
Written • Audio • Visual • Multimedia • Art • Website
What to Include With Each Submission
To help us properly credit, curate, and annotate your submission, please include:
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Name
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Job Title / Affiliation
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Email Address
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Resource Title & Creator
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Category & Media Type
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Annotation (3–5 sentences) explaining what it is and why it matters
What’s an Annotation?
An annotation is a short, reflective note that summarizes a resource and interprets its value — what it reveals, why it matters, and how it can be taught or used.
Example Annotation:
Bethune, Mary McLeod. “My Last Will and Testament.” Ebony Magazine (Aug. 1955).
A powerful farewell that distills Dr. Bethune’s philosophy of service, education, and faith in language as direct as it is prophetic. Commonly used in leadership, ethics, and civic-engagement courses.
BETHUNE at 150 a Syllabus
A collection of resources across genres and formats — from scholarship to storytelling, archives to art. The most recent submissions to the syllabus are displayed below. To view the entire Bethune At 150 Syllabus, click here
Partners of THE Syllabus
