Dorothy Irene Height

Political, Educational Leader

Sep 23, 2009

Height worked alongside Mary McLeod Bethune, Eleanor Roosevelt and Martin Luther King, Jr. to end segregation.

Height grew up in Rankin, Pennsylvania. In high school, she won a scholarship to Barnard College. She was denied entrance upon arrival at the university. At that time, Barnard College had a policy to admit only two black students per academic year. Height arrived too late.

Her rejection at Barnard didn't dampen her determination to receive a secondary education. Height attended New York University, earning a Master's in psychology.

Ironically, in 1980 commencement ceremonies, Barnard College presented Height the Barnard Medal of Distinction and apologized for refusing to allow her to attend college there. It is also ironic that the scholarship she won to attend Barnard was won at a national oratorical contest on the United States Constitution.

Civil Rights Work

Height's career in social work began as a caseworker with the New York City Welfare Department. From there, Height moved on to work for the national staff of the YWCA. It was while Height was working as Assistant Executive Director of the Harlem YWCA that Mary McLeod Bethune noticed a young Height as she escorted Eleanor Roosevelt into a National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) meeting (Bethune was founder and president of NCNW). Bethune invited Height to join the NCNW. Height joined and was named president of the council in 1957 and remained president until 1997.

During the civil rights movement, Height organized "Wednesdays in Mississippi," a group which brought together women of different races, faiths and geographies to promote an open dialogue between women. One meeting was marred when a Molotov cocktail was thrown through a window of the church where the group was meeting. Fortunately, the bomb did not ignite and no one was injured.

Height was also instrumental in the organization of the Martin Luther King, Jr., “I Have a Dream” March on Washington in 1963. She is currently the last living senior organizer of that event.

An excellent orator and writer, Height wrote a weekly column "A Woman's Word" for the New York Amsterdam News, an African-American newspaper, beginning with the March 20, 1965 issue.

Height served as a consultant on African affairs to the Secretary of State. She also served on the President's Committee on Employment of the Handicapped, and the President's Committee on the Status of Women. She was named to the National Council for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research in 1974.

A stageplay musical “If This Hat Could Talk” based on Height’s memoirs “Open Wide the Freedom Gates” (PublicAffairs 2003) toured for a few years and played the Apollo Theater in March 2007.

National Black Family Reunion

Height organized the National Black Family Reunion celebration in 1986. This celebration is held on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. and at age 97, Height continues to attend the celebration annually. She is also the Chairperson of the Executive Committee of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and was an honored guest at President Obama’s inauguration.

Height's Achievements

Height has received 24 honorary degrees for her contributions to civil rights and social work. In addition, some of the awards she has received for her contributions are:

1989 Awarded Citizens’ Medal Award for Distinguished Service by President Ronald Reagan

2004 Congressional Gold Medal presented by President George W. Bush on March 24; Height's 92nd birthday

2004 Awarded the NCC’s J. Irwin Miller Award for Excellence in Unity, Peach and Justice

2009 Foremother Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Research Center for Women and Families

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