Which Daytona Beach education pioneer was a 'Jeopardy!' answer?

"A Florida educator and college founder, she is the first Black American to represent a state in Statuary Hall."

That was the $2,000 "Jeopardy!" clue in the "African-American Firsts" category during Friday night's Double Jeopardy round.

Any ideas?

Who is Daytona Beach's very own Mary McLeod Bethune?

That's right. The founder of Bethune-Cookman University, Bethune was born in South Carolina in 1875 to former slaves. The civil and human rights leader became a force in Washington, D.C.; she was an adviser to five U.S. presidents and fought for women's right to vote.

Bethune also started a small school for girls in Daytona Beach that evolved into Bethune-Cookman University, and she took on Daytona Beach leaders in the early 1900s to secure the most basic rights for that city's Black residents.

In July 2022, an 11-foot-tall marble statue depicting Bethune was unveiled inside the U.S. Capitol building's National Statuary Hall, which is built in the shape of an ancient amphitheater and has colossal columns formed out of variegated Breccia marble quarried along the Potomac River.

Bethune's bronze statue was placed on the Riverfront Esplanade in August 2022.

Both statues show her in an academic gown in honor of educational achievements, a walking stick in her right designed in the same fashion as the one given to her by President Franklin D. Roosevelt; and a black rose in her left hand ― she called her students black roses, and to her, the black rose symbolized unity.

Bethune-Cookman University describes her as "one of America’s most inspirational daughters. Educator. National civil rights pioneer and activist. Champion of African American women’s rights and advancement. Advisor to Presidents of the United States. The first in her family not to be born into slavery, she became one of the most influential women of her generation."

Jack Weller, a law student originally from San Diego, answered the clue correctly. The episode originally aired in October.

Staff writer Sheldon Gardner contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Jeopardy answer names Daytona Beach college founder