March 24th... Dorothy Height
On This Day in Herstory, March 24th 1912, Dorothy Height, an American civil rights and women’s rights activist, who was a widely respected and influential leader of organizations that primarily focused on improving the circumstances of and opportunities for Black women, was born in Richmond, Virginia.
When she was five, Dorothy Irene Height and her family moved to Rankin, Pennsylvania, a steel town outside of Pittsburgh. Her schools in Rankin were racially integrated, and in 1929 she graduated from Rankin High School. While in school she became socially and politically active, by participating in anti-lynching campaigns. At this time, she also became recognized for her skills as a great orator; she even went on to win the national oratory competition, earning a college scholarship. In 1929 she was admitted to Barnard College, but upon her arrival she was denied enrollment at the school because of their unwritten policy to only admit two Black students a year. So, she instead enrolled at New York University, and graduated with her undergraduate degree in 1932; the following year she earned her master’s degree in educational psychology. She then went on to enroll at Columbia University and the New York School of Social Work for further postgraduate work. Following her time in school, Dorothy took jobs all around New York City, to help serve the poor communities the best she could. Her skills were very in demand, as she began her work at the height of the Great Depression. She found work as a caseworker with the New York City Welfare Department, before she began her career as a civil rights activist, joining the National Council of Negro Women; she was 25 years old. Throughout her career she fought for equal rights for Black people and women, specifically focusing on Black women. In 1944 she joined the YWCA’s national staff, and around the same time she joined the Delta Sigma Theta sorority. She served as national president of the sorority from 1947 to 1956; but was active throughout her life, developing leadership training programs and ecumenical education programs.
Following her term as Delta Sigma Theta president, in 1957 Dorothy was named president of the National Council of Negro Women; she served as president for 40 years. One of her most successful projects for the council was “Wednesdays in Mississippi,” a program she created in the 1960s during the Civil Rights Movement; the project brought together Black and white women from the North and South to open channels of communication and understanding. She also helped to found the Council for United Civil Rights Leadership, and helped form African-American Women for Reproductive Freedom. Additionally, she served on a number of committees, including he President’s Committee on the Employment of the Handicapped, and the President’s Committee on the Status of Women. Furthermore, she was the chairperson of the Executive Committee of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the largest civil rights for women’s rights organization in the USA. Because of her hard work, and the strides she made as a part of the Civil Rights and Women’s Rights Movements, many leaders took her counsel, including Eleanor Roosevelt, she also encouraged President Dwight D. Eisenhower to desegregate schools and President Lyndon B. Johnson to appoint Black women to positions in government. She was also an honored guest at the inauguration of President Barack Obama, and was invited to sit on the stage. Dorothy Height died on April 20th 2010, she was 98 years old. Her funeral was attended by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, and many other notable people. Many people consider her to be part of the true “Big Six” of the Civil Rights Movements, unfortunately many of her contributions are glossed over today because of sexism.










