On October 3, 1904 Mary McLeod Bethune opened a normal and industrial school for African-American girls in Daytona Beach, FL. Started in a rented house with only five students, in less than two years she attracted 250 pupils. By 1916, the school had grown into the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute and was affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The school merged in 1923 with Cookman Institute for boys located in Jacksonville and became Bethune-Cookman College.
