Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site

The Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site commemorates the life of Mary McLeod Bethune and the organization
she founded, the National Council of Negro Women.

The Bethune Council House was Mary McLeod Bethune's last official Washington,
DC residence and the first headquarters of the National Council of Negro Women. Mary McLeod Bethune founded Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona Beach, Florida and served as an advisor on African American affairs to four presidents. She was appointed Director of the Division of Negro Affairs of the National Youth Administration by President Roosevelt. She was the first African American
woman to hold so high an office in the federal government. The site features the three story Victorian town house which was her home when she was in Washington, DC and housed the offices of the National Council of Negro Women and a carriage house in which the National Archives for Black Women's History is located.

1318 Vermont Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 673-2402 - Visitor Information

By Car
FROM BALTIMORE AND POINTS NORTH: Take the Baltimore-Washington Parkway south to New York Avenue. Take New York Avenue to
Massachusetts Avenue. Turn right onto 13th Street. Go one block and turn left onto N Street. Go another block and turn right onto Vermont Avenue. 1318 is an
half block up the street on the left.

FROM VIRGINIA AND POINTS SOUTH: Take 14th Street to Thomas Circle. Make a right off the Circle onto Vermont Avenue. 1318 is one and an half blocks past the circle on the left.

Street parking is limited to two hours on Vermont Avenue. There are several pay parking lots within one or two blocks of Thomas Circle.

By Plane
Metrobus and Metrorail - (McPherson Square - Orange/Blue Lines)

Here are some of the activities that are offered at Mount Rainier National Park.

• Educational Programs

Recommended Activities
The Bethune Citizens Program provides students with an opportunity to use Mary McLeod Bethune's Last Will and Testament to effect positive change in their community through the activities of an
innovative NPS volunteer youth leadership program. This newly created program will be piloted as an educational youth volunteer
initiative that enhances self-esteem, promotes leadership and supports community service while creating a constituency of needed volunteers for the Bethune Council House and other National Park
Service sites in the National Capital Region. This program builds upon the assumption that youth are capable contributors to society,
that they have valuable ideas, and that they will take on responsibility and will acquire skills when presented with challenging opportunities.
For further information on this program, please contact us at (202)673-2402.