| Italic Title: | no |
| Statue of Mary McLeod Bethune | |
| Artist: | Alvin Petit |
| Year: | 2021 |
| Type: | Bronze |
| Dimensions: | (height) |
The statue of Mary McLeod Bethune in Jersey City, New Jersey is located in the Greenville section. It honors the educator and civil rights leader Mary McLeod Bethune (1875 – 1955).[1]
It was dedicated on November 22, 2021 and marked the completion of the namesake Bethune Park, which opened in August 2021,[2] [3] and is opposite the Bethune Center on Martin Luther King Drive. The bronze 9feet tall statue on a 2.5feet marble pedestal is inspired by Bethune in her late 20s to early 30s.[4]
The statue was designed by Alvin Petit who said of the work: “As a broader significance, this also plays a role in linking our City with a national movement to erect monuments that symbolize diversity and inclusiveness. This will be the first statue in Jersey City to honor the legacy of an African American woman.”[5] [6]
The inscription reads:
DR. MARY McCLEOD BETHUNE
July 10, 1875 – May 18, 1955
EDUCATOR * STATEWOMEN * ACTIVIST * ENTREPRENEUR
"If we have the courage and tenacity of our
forebears who stood firmly like a rock against
the lash of slavery, we shall find a way to do
for our day what they did for theirs."