Dr. Dorothy Height Remembered

On April 29th, thousands attended Dr. Dorothy Height’s funeral to remember the civil rights legend.

Dr. Dorothy Height led the National Council of Negro Women for four decades and was apart of and led keys battles during the civil rights movement. She died at 98.

Devoting her life to fighting for equality, President Obama eulogized Dr. Height as the “Godmother” of the American Civil Rights Movement, citing her humility and fight for the cause:

“She never cared about who got the credit. What she cared about was the cause. The cause of justice, the cause of equality, the cause of opportunity, freedom’s cause.”

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He also shared that Dr. Dorothy Height had visited the Obama White House over 20 times and urged Americans to honor her memory by serving and improving their country.

Dr. Dorothy Height was born on March 24th, 1912 in Richmond, Virginia and raised in Rankin, Pennsylvania where she excelled as a student. In 1929, she was admitted to Barnard College but was not allowed to attend because the school did not admit African Americans. Instead, Height went on to graduate from New York University where she received a bachelor’s in education and master’s in psychology. Her first job was as a social worker in Harlem, New York.

She later joined the staff of the Harlem Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA). Dr. Dorothy Height became an instrumental leader in the local organization. She created diverse programs and pushed the organization to integrate YWCA facilities nationwide.