The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) will open a new exhibition, “Forces for Change: Mary McLeod Bethune and Black Women’s Activism,” on Friday, July 19. This 640-square-foot exhibition explores the legacy of Mary McLeod Bethune and the National Council of Negro Women, highlighting strategies Black women have used to enact change through education, creativity, and organizing. 

“Against incalculable odds, the women featured in this exhibition built institutions of learning, ignited social and political movements, formed enduring organizations, and created beauty in multifarious art forms, all the while representing their country nationally and internationally,” said Tulani Salahu-Din, NMAAHC’s museum specialist.

Visitors will engage with interactive media, infographics, and objects connected to Black women, including Bethune’s travel diary, Dorothy Height’s hat, an antique desk owned by Etta Moten Barnett, and a red silk rose worn by Sybrina Fulton. A highlight is an 8-foot-tall plaster sculpture of Bethune, the original model for the final statue in the U.S. Capitol Building’s National Statuary Hall. In 2022, Bethune became the first African American honored with a state-commissioned statue in the National Statuary Hall Collection.

This exhibition represents a dynamic reenvisioning of the “Bethune Room,” which first opened in 2016 as part of the “Making a Way Out of No Way” permanent exhibition. “Forces for Change” will offer new perspectives on Black women as activists and illuminate the history of Black women affecting social change.

For more details, visit nmaahc.si.edu/ForcesForChange.