Charles White (American, 1918–1979)
Mary McLeod Bethune,
1978
Groundbreaking educator and civic leader Mary McLeod Bethune is the
statuesque central figure in Charles White’s mural for the Los Angeles
Public Library. One of seventeen children, and among the first in her family
born after emancipation, Bethune founded the Daytona Literary and Industrial
Training School for Negro Girls (now Bethune-Cookman University).
White, raised on Chicago’s South Side, studied at the Art Institute of
Chicago and the Art Students League of New York. During the Great
Depression, as an artist with the Works Progress Administration, he deepened
his appreciation for social realism and strove to inspire hope through his
artwork.
With education and learning as the central theme, his mural emphasizes black
families and the significance of music, education, and culture. Behind the
figures, White excerpted key points from Bethune’s My
Last Will and Testament.
It details the deeply held values she hoped would be her legacy: such
powerful forces as love, hope, faith, a thirst for education, respect for
the uses of power, and racial dignity.
With subjects ranging from fine art, nature, and architecture to humor, the
metaphysical, and more, Pomegranate’s interlocking jigsaw puzzles combine
stunning images, superb color reproduction, and sturdy construction to
delight generations of novice and veteran puzzle solvers alike.
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