Statue of Mary McLeod Bethune (Jersey City)

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).

It was dedicated on November 22, 2021 and marked the completion of the namesake Bethune Park, which opened in August 2021, and is opposite the Bethune Center on Martin Luther King Drive. The bronze 9 ft tall statue on a 2.5 ft marble pedestal is inspired by Bethune in her late 20s to early 30s.

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.”

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."