"I Leave You Hope, I Leave You Faith, I Leave You Love" - The Vision of Mary McLeod Bethune: A talk by Dr. Noliwe Rooks

When Mary McLeod Bethune died in 1955, tributes in newspapers around the country said she should be on the Mount Rushmore of Black American achievement. During her life, she served as an advisor to four U.S. Presidents, founded a university and hospital, led civil-rights organizations, was the first Black person to head a federal agency and embraced commemoration, graphic novels, and archival collecting as a way to ensure that moments and figures from the past were available to inspire future generations of Black women, children and people.

The Black Metropolis Research Consortium (BMRC) in collaboration with University Libraries and Women and Leadership Archives at Loyola University Chicago invites you to a talk on Bethune given by Dr. Noliwe Rooks. Dr. Rooks is the L. Herbert Ballou University Professor and the chair of Africana Studies at Brown University. Her award-winning scholarship explores how race and gender both impact and are impacted by popular culture, social history and political life in the United States. Dr. Rooks received a 2025 NAACP Image Award nomination for her book, A Passionate Mind in Relentless Pursuit: The Vision of Mary McLeod Bethune.

Registration is encouraged.

April 15, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Information Commons, 4th Floor
Loyola University Chicago
6501 N Kenmore Ave, Chicago, IL 60660