This award was established in tribute to Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune because of her dynamic leadership and her years of contributing to education, women’s history, and African-American life and culture. Dr. Bethune served as the first woman president of ASALH from 1936 to 1951 and is one of the most outstanding women role models in our history. The award recipient must be a member of ASALH who has been an active supporter and contributor to the ASALH’s work for 10 or more years. The individual’s significant contribution must have been in at least some of the following areas: Branch work; service on the Executive Council; fund raising; work on the Black History Month Theme Material; education; and the Woodson House Campaign. Finally, the recipient will be one whose career has been highlighted with service to education, African American history, and the community. All these attributes symbolize the life of Dr. Bethune. The award is presented annually.
1995
Jeanette L. Cascone
1996
Edgar Toppin
1997
Sylvia M. Jacobs
1998
Roland C. McConnell
1999
Wayland McClellan
2000
Alton Parker Hornsby
2001
Shirley Kilpatrick
2002
Madlyn Calbert and Rev. William E. Calbert
2003
Adelaide Cromwell
2004
Rev. Richard T. Adams
2005
Edna McKenzie and Elmer Geathers
2006
Bettye Gardner and Elizabeth Clark-Lewis
2007
Paul Edwards and Lillie Edwards
2008
Barbara Walker and Dolores Nehemiah
2009
Bob Hayden
2010
Florence Radcliffe
2011
Daryl Michael Scott
2012
Janet Sims-Wood
2013
No Award
2014
Barbara Spencer Dunn
2015
Louis Hicks
2016
LaVonne Neal and Lois Watson
2018
Ruth Hodge
2019
Ida Jones
Brenda Simmons-Hutchins
2021
Sheila Flemming
Bessie Mae Jackson
Lopez D. Matthews Jr.
