On November 23, 1930, Eleanor Roosevelt waits at the Mayflower Hotel to greet Mary McLeod Bethune personally. A young doorman warns that the Palm Court does not seat Black guests. Eleanor confronts the manager, invokes her public standing, and secures a table, though they are placed in the back amid stares.

Settling in, Eleanor starts to apologize, but Mary declines and prefers to focus on their conversation. They discuss Eleanor’s frustrations with the limiting expectations of a governor’s wife and her desire for meaningful work, contrasting with endless social obligations.

Mary shifts to her appointment to President Hoover’s child-welfare commission, noting she was promised influence but holds no real power. She observes that progress requires putting true change-makers in place, highlighting both women’s constrained roles.

Mary then raises lynching. She describes a convening led by Jessie Daniel Ames of white women urging an end to lynching and reports that lynchings remain widespread in both South and North. Crucially, the group concludes that silence surrounding these crimes enables them—silence is tantamount to guilt.

Moved, Eleanor admits she does not know where to begin but does not want to remain silent. She reaches for Mary’s hand, defying racial taboos. Mary responds that Eleanor has already begun, signaling Eleanor’s shift toward open anti-lynching advocacy.