The Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site commemorates the life of Mary McLeod Bethune and the organization she founded, the National Council of Negro Women.

The Bethune Council House was Mary McLeod Bethune's last official Washington, DC residence and the first headquarters of the National Council of Negro Women. Mary McLeod Bethune founded Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona Beach, Florida and served as an advisor on African American affairs to four presidents. She was appointed Director of the Division of Negro Affairs of the National Youth Administration by President Roosevelt. She was the first African American woman to hold so high an office in the federal government.

The site features the three story Victorian town house which was her home when she was in Washington, DC and housed the offices of the National Council of Negro Women and a carriage house in which the National Archives for Black Women's History is located.

 Directions 

Car - FROM BALTIMORE AND POINTS NORTH: Take the Baltimore-Washington Parkway south to New York Avenue. Take New York Avenue to Massachusetts Avenue. Turn right onto 13th Street. Go one block and turn left onto N Street. Go another block and turn right onto Vermont Avenue. 1318 is an half block up the street on the left.

FROM VIRGINIA AND POINTS SOUTH: Take 14th Street to Thomas Circle. Make a right off the Circle onto Vermont Avenue. 1318 is one and an half blocks past the circle on the left.

Street parking is limited to two hours on Vermont Avenue. There are several pay parking lots within one or two blocks of Thomas Circle.

Public Transportation - Metrobus and Metrorail - (McPherson Square - Orange/Blue Lines)