Letter from Mary McLeod Bethune to Representative James S. Parker, January 28, 1926

In 1926 Congress considered whether to renew the Sheppard-Towner Act. Mary McLeod Bethune, president of the National Association of Colored Women, wrote to the Chairman of the Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee, a panel with jurisdiction over the bill, voicing her organization’s support for a five-year extension. Congress renewed funding until 1929 but then let the program lapse.

Click here to see excerpt:
Our organization represents a membership of over 100,000 women… We have been authorized to support the proposal that the time of the Shephard-Towner [sic] act be extended…

Manuscript Division, Library of Congress