Review

Textbooks, Readers, and References

Andrea Thomas McCluskey and Elaine M. Smith have skillfully edited this volume of documents about the life of early civil rights leader Mary McLeod Bethune. They have set out to discuss the struggles and accomplishments of this little-known black leader and also to explore the socio-political context in which she lived and worked. Bethune emerged as a talented civil rights activist during the Jim Crow era. She made significant contributions in local as well as federal politics, played a prominent role in many noteworthy black associations, and founded a historically black college. Among her many accomplishments, Bethune served as president of Bethune-Cookman College for twenty years after she created the institution, established the National Council of Negro Women in 1935, and organized the "Black Cabinet" in the Roosevelt administration.	1
The volume provides 75 documents spanning the fifty-three years in which Bethune was politically active from 1902 to 1955. It is useful to have so many documents from her life collected in one volume. The book is divided into six sections, which provide historical summaries in addition to documents about Bethune. Her life is of particular interest because it spans so much of African-American history, including Reconstruction, the clubwoman movement, World War I, and World War II. This work enriches our understanding of black activism during this period of African-American history and also sheds light on the specific contributions made by women of color. The introductory essays for each section are particularly helpful. Each one provides an overview of the documents included in that part. Moreover, these essays provide excellent historical context. The introduction to Part V, for example, examines Bethune's work in the "Black Cabinet" of the Roosevelt administration. The essay astutely analyzes Bethune's political ideology, which combined militancy with accommodation. This introduction allows the reader to understand the sometimes conflicting proposals put forth by Bethune as demonstrated in the accompanying documents.	2
Although this book contains a number of interesting documents as well as insightful analytical essays, its usefulness in the classroom is unclear. An instructor could use a few of the documents for study in an American history class, African-American history class, or a course in women's history. The documents could be used for high school or university students. It is perhaps a bit too narrow in its scope, however, for general classroom use. However, the book clearly provides what it sets out to do: to demonstrate the importance of Bethune's contributions to African-American history.	3
California State University, Long Beach Jane E. Dabel

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