Honorary Doctor of Humanities
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Memorial Honor
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Bethune, Mary McLeod
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Honorary Doctor of Humanities
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Rollins College’s 8th President, Hamilton Holt, was a progressive voice in an otherwise conservative southern town during his time at the College (1925-1949). A founding member of the NAACP, Holt hoped to take a stand against racism and segregation by awarding Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955) an honorary degree, despite resistance from the College’s Board of Trustees.
Bethune was a national leader in higher education who had served as an advisor to the Roosevelt Administration and founded the Daytona Literary and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls, which would later become Bethune-Cookman University.
Right before his retirement, Holt made one final bold statement by going against the wishes of the Board of Trustees, and publicly awarding Mary McLeod Bethune an Honorary Doctor of Humanities degree, the first granted in the United States to a Black woman, with thousands watching on Sandspur Field during Founder’s Day Celebration.
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“Mary McLeod Bethune, I deem it one of the highest privileges that has come to me as President of Rollins College to do honor to you this morning. I am proud that Rollin is, I am told, the first white college in the South to bestow an honorary degree upon one of your race.” This was proclaimed by Rollins President, Hamilton Holt, when this award was bestowed upon Mary McLeod Bethune in February 21, 1949.
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Holt, Hamilton
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February 21, 1949
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Rollins College
Position: 1239 (60 views)