Maizie P. Seabrook
John P. Coburn was born about 1811 in the State of Massachusetts. He was a clothing dealer. He purchased his house in 1835. Coburn, his and their adopted son lived here. Coburn also established a gaming house here with his brother-in-law, Ira Gray. It was described as “private place” that was “the resort of the upper ten who acquired a taste for gambling.” His wife died in 1872, John the next year. He left the bulk of his estate to his adopted son Wendell. It included $18,500 in real estate and $2,000 in cash.
The Black Heritage Trail is a field trip that should be taken by all Middle and High School students. They can learn many values as they view the various parts of the trail. One can’t walk away not caring and having a sense of pride to realize the many obstacles these men, women and children had to overcome.
1982: MARY MCLEOD BETHUNE COUNCIL HOUSE NATIONAL HISTORIC
SITE
Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site was the Washington, D.C., home of the famed educator organizer from 1943 until her death in 1955. It is an Affiliated Area under the jurisdiction of the National Council of Negro Women.
Bethune was born in 1875 in Mayesville, in rural South Carolina, to parents who had been slaves. She became widely known as an educator, and in 1923 founded and became president of Bethune-Cochran College in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Bethune was an advisor to four presidents, beginning with Calvin Coolidge. She was the only woman in President Franklin Roosevelt’s “Black Cabinet,” a group that advised him on minority affairs in the 1930s. She served in Washington, D.C., from 1936 to 1944 as Director of the National Youth Administration’s Division of Negro Affairs.
In 1935 she founded the National Council of Negro Women. The four-story Victorian townhouse on Logan Circle in Washington, D.C., that is now the national historic site became known as the “Council House.” It contains the Bethune Memorial Museum and the National Archives for Black Women’s History. The archives houses the largest manuscript collection of materials pertaining to black women and their organizations, including extensive correspondence, photographs and memorabilia relating to Bethune.
Mary McLeod Bethune is honored, also, by a 17-foot bronze statue in Lincoln Park, east of the Capitol in Washington, D.C. The work of sculptor Robert Berks, it depicts the renowned educator leaving her legacy to a boy and girl. (Courier NPS Newsletter Vol. 29, No. 2 Feb. 1984) (Boston African American National Historic Site Pamphlet NPS U.S. Dept. of the Interior)
The following is a list of National Park Units and National Historic Landmarks were Afro-American involvement is significantly related to the park themes.
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Boston African-American National Historic Site, MA
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Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site, AL
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Mary McLeod Bethune Council House Nation Historic Site, DC
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George Washington Carver National Monument, MO
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Frederick Douglass Home, DC
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Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (old courthouse), MO
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Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site, GA
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Maggie Lena Walker National Historic Site, VA
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Booker T. Washington National Monument, VA
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National Historic Landmarks
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African Meeting House, MA
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Beale Street Historic District, OK
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Fort Huachuca, AZ
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Franklin (Isaac) Plantation, TN
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Jackson Ward Historic District, VA
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Nicodemus Historic District, KS
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101 Ranch Historic District, OK
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Penn School Historic District, SC
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Sweet Auburn Historic District, GA
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Yucca Plantation (Melrose), LA
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British (Negro) Fort, FL
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Chapelle Administration Building, SC
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Collin (Levi) House, IN
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Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, AL
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First Church of Christ, CT
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Fort Des Moines Provisional Army Officer Training School, IA
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Fort Pillow, TN
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Franklin and Armfield Office, VA
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Hampton Institute, VA
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Howard (General Oliver Otis) House, DC
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Jubilee Hall, Fisk University, TN
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Lincoln Hall, Berea College, KY
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Little Rock Central High School, AR
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Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church, PA
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Mutual Musicians Association Building, MO
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New York Amsterdam News Building, NY
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North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company, NC
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Oakland Memorial Chapel, MS
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Oberlin College, OH
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Pittsylvania County Courthouse, VA
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Port Hudson, LA
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Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church, DC
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Site of the Battle of Rhode Island RI
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Stone Hall (Fairchild Hall), GA
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Stone River Slave Rebellion Site, SC
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Sumnre Elementary School, KS
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Swayne Hall, AL
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Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site, AL
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Abbott (Robert S.) House, IL
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Armstrong (Louis) House, NY
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Baldwin (Maria) House, MA
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Benneker (Benjamin) SW-9 Intermediate Boundary Stone, VA
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Bethune (Mary McLeod) Home, FL
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Bruce (Blanche K.) House, DC
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Bunche Ralph J. House, NY
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Cary (Mary Ann Shadd) House, DC
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Cook (Will Marion) House, NY
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Cuffe (Paul) Farm, MA
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DePriest (Oscar Stanton) House, IL
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Dillad (James H.) Home, LA
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Drew (Charles Richard) House, VA
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Dubois (William E.B) Boyhood Homesite, MA
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Dunbar (Paul L) House, OH
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DuSable (Jean Baptist Point) Homesite, IL
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Ellington (Edward Kennedy “Duke”) Residence, NY
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Fortune (T. Thomas) House, DC
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Grimke (Charlotte Forten) House, DC
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Harper (Francis Ellen Watkins) House, PA
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Hayes (Lemuel) House, SC
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Henson (Matthew) Residence, NY
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Heyward (Dubose) House, SC
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Johnson (James Weldon) Residence, NY
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Joplin (Scott) Residence, MO
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King (Martin Luther, Jr.,) Historic District, GA
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Langston (John Mercer) House, OH
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McKay (Claude) Residence, NY
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Mills (Florence) House, NY
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Montgomery (I.T.) House, MS
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Moton (Robert) Home (Holly Knoll), VA
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Nell (William C.) Residence, MA
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Rainey (Joseph) House, SC
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Smalls (Robert) House, S C
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Tanner (Henry O.) Homesite, PA
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Terell (Mary Church) House, DC
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Trotter (William Monroe) House, MA
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Tubman, Harriet Home for the Aged, NY
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Union Tavern, NC
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Vesey (Denver) House, SC
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Villa Lewaro, NY
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Waller, (Maggie Lena) House, VA
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Wells-Barnett (Ida B.) House, IL
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William (Daniel Hale) House, IL
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Woodson (Carter G.) House, DC
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Young (Col. Charles) House, OH
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Young (Whitney M., Jr.) Birthplace and Boyhood Home, KY
Some of the national landmarks are not opened to the public. It is advisable that you contact the National Park Service before you attend.
