ABSTRACT
On October 15, 1982, President Ronald Reagan signed into law a bill designating the Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial Museum and the National Archives for Black Women’s History a National Historic Site. Located in the nation’s capital at 1318 Vermont Avenue and known throughout the United States as “Council House,” this site served as the first national headquarters of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) and the last official Washington, D.C. residence of Mary McLeod Bethune. Currently the site houses a museum and archives whose focus is black women’s history. 1
