An African-American woman who founded what's now Bethune-Cookman University is the top public recommendation to replace a Confederate general's statue that represents Florida in the U.S. Capitol.
Mary McLeod Bethune was recommended by 1,233 people, by far the most among the 129 submitted to the state to replace the statue of Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith.
A committee will review the recommendations Wednesday and submit three names to the Legislature, which will make the final decision on what statue will replace Smith's.
Among other top recommendations were Marjory Stoneman Douglas, who helped preserve The Everglades; James Weldon Johnson, who was Florida's first African-American lawyer; railroad and hotel builder Henry Flagler; Walt Disney; Publix supermarket founder George Washington Jenkins; and Osceola, who was a Seminole Tribe leader during the Second Seminole War.
