A Tribute to a Living Legend: Dorothy Irene Height

For more than a half-century, women and people of color have had a fighter for human rights, a leader for equality and a crusader for a better world.

You can find a picture of this warrior in the National Women's Hall of Fame tucked among the likes of Clara Barton, Susan B. Anthony and Sojourner Truth.

Dorothy Irene Height has dedicated her life to education and social activism. She has encouraged political figures such as First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, President Dwight Eisenhower and President Lyndon B. Johnson to create legislation and promote acts that benefited women and African Americans. And she has had the ear of every president since then.

At 98, the civil and human rights activist still works for a better tomorrow.

"We advanced in so many ways, but at the same time the poorest seem to be poorer, and the poverty among us seems to be entrenched," Height said. "However, I am always an optimist, because I have an abiding faith. I believe that somehow the right will prevail. We have to keep working. Justice is not impossible. We can achieve it."

Height does much of her work through the National Council for Negro Women (NCNW) as chair and president emerita. She also chairs the executive committee of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the largest civil rights organization in the nation.

With the advancements of her people, Height revels in how far African Americans have come.

"In my lifetime, I have witnessed the evolution of desegregation, the spread of civil rights and the rise of possibilities for people regardless of race and sex," Height said in a recent statement. 

"I have also recently witnessed the passage of our health-care bill, something people of all different races and genders can applaud." Currently in serious but stable condition at Howard University Hospital in Washington, Height knows the importance of this new legislation firsthand. 

"We remain very optimistic in regards to her recovery," said Height's confidante, Alexis M. Herman, former U.S. Secretary of Labor. "She's such a fighter. She continues to amaze all of us. She continues to hang in there."

"I think all the prayers are making a big difference right now," Herman said. "I'm so proud of the Howard Hospital family that is taking such extraordinary care of her." Height considers the hospital staff "as part of her extended family,"  she added.

A Gifted Student and Speaker

Born on March 24, 1912, in Richmond, Va., Height was a gifted student, winning a $1,000 scholarship after excelling in a national oratorical contest on the U.S. Constitution. Her skills awarded her entry into Barnard College, but upon arrival, Height was denied entrance into the institution. Barnard had a two African Americans-per-academic year limit, and Height would have surpassed the quota.

Instead, Height earned both bachelor's and master's degrees in four years from New York University in educational psychology. Later, she continued her education with post-graduate work at the New York School of Social Work and Columbia University, whose educational system includes Barnard and three other undergraduate schools. Height now has 36 honorary doctorates from institutions such as Howard University, Harvard University, Spelman College, Bennett College, Princeton University and Columbia.   

Height began her life of public service as a New York City Welfare Department caseworker. Leading the Christian Youth Movement of North America during the New Deal era, Height worked tirelessly to prevent lynching, desegregate schools and the armed forces, reform the criminal justice system, appoint more African-American women to government positions and afford free access to public accommodations. 

She served as vice president of the body and was chosen as one of 10 American youths to attend the World Conference on Life and Work of Churches in Oxford, England, and a YWCA representative at the World Conference of Christian Youth in Amsterdam, Holland.