Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site

Applications are open to become a Civil War Defenses of Washington Trail Ambassador! In this position, you’ll help conserve the historic pathway by joining a group of volunteers to care for an specific section of the trail.

Trail Ambassadors visit their selected trail portions at least once a month to trim vegetation, record data, note issues, clean up litter, and assist visitors! 🌿🗒️🚮ℹ️

Ready to join? Visit here to learn more and apply ➡️ https://www.volunteer.gov/s/volopprecord?listing=a09SJ00000NJkd1YAD

Photo: NPS/Conall Rubin-Thomas

Juneteenth is coming up soon, and we’ve got an exciting celebration planned for the weekend!

Join us for “Juneteenth at Anacostia Park — It’s Up to Us,” an afternoon honoring liberation through the powers of community, art, and self-reliance. Held on June 21 at the Roller Skating Pavilion from 3 – 6 PM, this public event invites you to Learn, Make, Move, and Share your freedom by:

👜 Creating your own tote bags!
🕺 Joining in on some line dancing!
💡Delving into local history + stories of community resilience!
🙌 And more *free* activities!

Good vibes, great people, and a grand time await you in Anacostia, so come out for some joyous Juneteenth fun! We hope to see you there!

Learn more about this occasion 👉 https://go.nps.gov/anac/juneteenth

Photo: NPS / Gabby Napolitano

Mary McLeod Bethune's teaching work is most often associated with her own school, the institution that would come to be known as Bethune-Cookman University, but she only made her way to Daytona Beach after a few years and several more places.

While studying at what is now known as the Moody Bible Institute, she joined a student group that established Sunday Schools in rural North and South Dakota, newly made states as of only a few years earlier. After graduation, she held teaching positions in Georgia, South Carolina, back to (somewhere else in) Georgia, and Palatka, Florida before making her way down to Daytona Beach to begin her independent work. This says a lot about how dedicated she was to helping and educating others!

Has your career taken you far from home?

NPS Photo: How Six Grandfathers, South Dakota appeared during the time Mrs. Bethune was teaching in the Dakotas. Six Grandfathers was also locally known as Mount Rushmore and would later become the site of Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

National Capital Parks - East is excited to announce a brand-new Trail Ambassador volunteer position! This role involves monitoring and maintaining sections of the Civil War Defenses of Washington Trail in southeast/northeast Washington, DC.

The trail winds 6.5 miles from Fort Mahan Park to Fort Stanton Park through other Civil War-era forts and can be traversed in either direction. As a Trail Ambassador, you’ll select a portion of the pathway to regularly walk, report on, and conserve, proving indispensable in:

--Informing Park Service staff of trail conditions 🌱
--Actively working to improve trail quality ⛏️
--Assisting visitors and answering questions 🙋
--Removing litter & invasive species 🗑️🥀

Eager for some adventuring? Learn more about being a Trail Ambassador and apply to join 👉 https://www.volunteer.gov/s/volopprecord?listing=a09SJ00000NJkd1YAD

With your help, the trail shall prevail!

Photo: NPS / Conall Rubin-Thomas

Although we consider the Council House pretty big for a home in the city nowadays, remember that the place served multiple roles: a home for Mrs. Bethune, yes, but also a hostel for NCNW members and travelers alike, a meeting space for community organizations, and of course, the national headquarters for the NCNW. It does not seem quite so big anymore, does it? You can see evidence of this in this image: this storied table and set of chairs, donated by Representative William Dawson of Chicago, Illinois and used by legions of mid-to-late-twentieth-century activists, had to act as a dinner table as well when the time came. Sometimes, the people at the table would not even leave, but instead go directly from meeting to eating!

What spaces in your home serve many purposes?

Photo: The boardroom table at the Council House with a display showing some of the ways it was used over the years (NPS Photo).

When you come to visit, keep an eye out; between a couple rooms in the house, you can find four small elephant sculptures of Mrs. Bethune's. She really liked elephants for a couple reasons: they were a symbol of strength, a symbol of Africa and her dreams to someday travel to the continent, and a symbol of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority with which she was affiliated. She kept several representations of them around the Council House, including one that can be seen in this photo. Can you spot it?

What sorts of symbols do you have up around your home?

Image Credit: NPGallery

👀Looking for a fun weekend activity? You've found one! 🎉

Head to nearby Stanton Park this Saturday morning to help remove invasive plants, clean up litter, trim hedges, and more! 🌿🗑️

Register to join here ⬇️ https://www.volunteer.gov/s/volopprecord?listing=a09SJ00000NVn0nYAD

Photo: NPS/Conall Rubin-Thomas

Mary McLeod Bethune once said: "I am not in politics. I am here as an educator. I am here as an interpreter of my people. I am here making contacts for them. I have never made a political speech; I have never been asked to make one."

When was the last time that you helped others?

Image Credit: NPS/NABWH

NEW HOURS NOTICE: Starting today, Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site will be expanding our hours to Wednesday–Saturday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Tours begin at 9:00 AM and run every half hour with the last tour starting at 4:30 PM. Walk-ins are welcome at any time. Stop by for a visit and dive into a rich slice of DC and American history!

Image credit: NPS

Mary McLeod Bethune once wrote: "It is of vital importance to teach every Black boy and every Black girl not to hate but to love. When we give out hate, we get hate."

Image Credit: NPS/NABWH