DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A statue of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune that will be placed in the U.S. Capitol will first be unveiled in a special ceremony in Daytona Beach next week.
The 11-foot statue was created in Italy by Florida artist Nilda Comas from a block of marble excavated from Michelangelo’s Cave in Tuscany.
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As Dr. Bethune’s residence and the city where she founded Bethune-Cookman University, Daytona Beach will have the opportunity to display the statue temporarily before it’s taken to Washington D.C. for permanent placement in National Statuary Hall. Dr. Bethune will be the first African-American, male or female, to represent a state in the hall.
The statue will arrive in Daytona Beach between 8 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. Wednesday morning. The university is inviting spectators to watch as it travels down Mary McLeod Bethune Blvd.
The formal unveiling ceremony will take place on October 11 at the Daytona Beach News-Journal Center on Beach St. at 11 a.m.
For more information about the Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Statuary Fund, click here.
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