In August 1936, Mary welcomes prominent Black federal appointees to the newly purchased National Council of Negro Women townhouse in Washington. After congratulations on her appointment to direct the NYA’s Division of Negro Affairs, she pivots to purpose: uniting their scattered influence into a coordinated force with a single voice to the Roosevelt administration.

Skepticism surfaces. Eugene Kinckle Jones doubts their power, and Robert Weaver warns of tokenism and political exploitation, noting global distractions like Hitler and Mussolini. Mary counters by detailing concrete NYA results achieved in three months: doubled funding, hiring Black state and local directors, stipends for 26,000 schoolchildren, CCC placements for Black youth, $50,000 for graduate students, and control of the division’s purse strings, with a goal to put over 300,000 youths to work.

Building on that record, Mary announces a strategic shift: she will back Roosevelt’s reelection despite her lifelong Republican identity, framing it as a transactional partnership—New Deal resources for Black communities in exchange for votes. She commits to persuading Black voters to support Roosevelt and proposes weekly Friday meetings to coordinate policy pushes and resolve issues.

A debate over labels follows a quip about the “Black Cabinet,” with younger members, including Robert and Bill Hastie, rejecting the term. Mary steers the discussion to consensus, naming the coalition the Federal Council of Negro Affairs. The group agrees to meet regularly, leveraging unprecedented access and collective strategy to advance Black interests within the New Deal.