SB 472                                           First Engrossed
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       2018472e1
       
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the National Statuary Hall;
    3         requesting the Joint Committee on the Library of
    4         Congress to approve the replacement of the statue of
    5         Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith in the National
    6         Statuary Hall Collection with a statue of Mary McLeod
    7         Bethune; providing for the transfer of ownership of
    8         the statue of General Edmund Kirby Smith to the state;
    9         requiring the Division of Cultural Affairs of the
   10         Department of State to take possession of the statue
   11         and make available for public display; providing that
   12         the act is an official request to the Joint Committee
   13         on the Library of Congress; requiring the Department
   14         of State to deliver copies of the act to certain
   15         persons on the act’s effective date; providing an
   16         effective date.
   17  
   18         WHEREAS, in March 2016, the Florida Legislature passed, and
   19  the Governor signed into law, Senate Bill 310, authorizing the
   20  replacement of the statue of Confederate General Edmund Kirby
   21  Smith in the National Statuary Hall Collection with a statue of
   22  a prominent Florida citizen recommended by the ad hoc committee
   23  of the Great Floridians Program within the Division of
   24  Historical Resources of the Department of State, and
   25         WHEREAS, one of the three prominent Florida citizens
   26  recommended by the ad hoc committee is Mary McLeod Bethune, and
   27         WHEREAS, Mary McLeod Bethune was born on July 10, 1875, in
   28  Mayesville, South Carolina, and she was the first member of her
   29  family, including all of her 16 siblings, born free following
   30  the conclusion of the Civil War, and
   31         WHEREAS, beginning at a young age, Mary McLeod Bethune
   32  became engaged with learning and teaching after receiving an
   33  opportunity to attend Trinity Presbyterian Mission School in her
   34  hometown, and her dedication was evidenced through attending as
   35  many classes as she could and teaching her parents and siblings
   36  what she had learned, and
   37         WHEREAS, Mary McLeod Bethune was awarded a scholarship
   38  allowing her to enroll at the then-Scotia Seminary for Girls in
   39  Concord, North Carolina, from which she graduated in 1893, and
   40  she went on to continue her studies at the Moody Bible Institute
   41  in Chicago, and
   42         WHEREAS, upon graduating from the Moody Bible Institute,
   43  Mary McLeod Bethune became a teacher and taught at schools in
   44  Georgia and South Carolina before moving to Florida to teach at
   45  the Palatka Mission School, and
   46         WHEREAS, through observing the burgeoning black population
   47  in the area prompted by labor needed for railroad construction,
   48  Mary McLeod Bethune decided to follow through with her dream of
   49  opening her own school, and
   50         WHEREAS, Mary McLeod Bethune bought a small cottage in
   51  Daytona Beach to allow for the opening of the Daytona Literary
   52  and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls in 1904 and
   53  through her commitment to fundraising, the school’s enrollment
   54  grew from 5 to 250 students in just 2 years, and
   55         WHEREAS, the school continued to grow, which eventually
   56  resulted in its merger with the Cookman Institute for Men in
   57  Jacksonville to form Bethune-Cookman College, where she later
   58  served as president, and
   59         WHEREAS, Mary McLeod Bethune’s advocacy continued with her
   60  founding of the National Council of Negro Women and her
   61  appointment as Director of the Division of Negro Affairs of the
   62  National Youth Administration by President Franklin Delano
   63  Roosevelt, and
   64         WHEREAS, through her position as the highest ranking
   65  African-American woman in the Federal Government, Mary McLeod
   66  Bethune was able to assist African-American youth in finding
   67  employment and worked with the Women’s Army Corps during World
   68  War II to recruit African-American female officers, and
   69         WHEREAS, upon her death in 1955, Mary McLeod Bethune’s
   70  inspirational leadership was praised by many, including former
   71  First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who lauded “her wisdom and her
   72  goodness,” and
   73         WHEREAS, in 1995, the United States National Park Service
   74  established the Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National
   75  Historic Site in Washington, D.C., which has preserved the
   76  townhouse that was once her personal residence and the first
   77  headquarters of the National Council of Negro Women, and
   78         WHEREAS, Mary McLeod Bethune’s legacy continues to be felt
   79  in Florida through the continued success of Bethune-Cookman
   80  University, whose enrollment is currently approaching a record
   81  high of 4,000 students, and
   82         WHEREAS, it is appropriate to honor Mary McLeod Bethune as
   83  one of two Floridians memorialized in statues in the National
   84  Statuary Hall Collection given her significant and continuing
   85  impact on this state, NOW, THEREFORE,
   86  
   87  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   88  
   89         Section 1. The Legislature of the State of Florida hereby
   90  respectfully requests the Joint Committee on the Library of
   91  Congress to approve the replacement of the statue of Confederate
   92  General Edmund Kirby Smith in the National Statuary Hall
   93  Collection with a statue of Mary McLeod Bethune. Contingent upon
   94  such approval by the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress,
   95  ownership of the statue of General Edmund Kirby Smith shall
   96  transfer to the state in accordance with 2 U.S.C. s. 2132(d).
   97  The Division of Cultural Affairs of the Department of State
   98  shall take possession of the returned statue, and make the
   99  statue available for public display.
  100         Section 2. This act shall serve as an official request to
  101  the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress pursuant to 2
  102  U.S.C. s. 2132.
  103         Section 3. On the effective date of this act, the
  104  Department of State shall deliver a copy of this act to the
  105  President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United
  106  States House of Representatives, the Joint Committee on the
  107  Library of Congress, and to each member of the Florida
  108  delegation to the United States Congress.
  109         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2018.