Dorothy Height, a leading civil rights pioneer of the 1960s, died at 3:41 a.m Tuesday at age 98, Howard University Hospital spokesman Ron Harris told CNN. No cause of death was given.
I reported last March 28 about Height falling ill around her birthday and wrote about her work with Coretta Scott King on furthering LGBT rights – something that mainstream obituaries might well disregard. Height, chair and president emerita of the National Council of Negro Women, worked in the 1960s alongside civil rights pioneers, including the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., future U.S. Rep. John Lewis and A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin. She was there when King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech at the 1963 March on Washington and later worked to ensure that women would henceforth have speaking roles at such major political events.
This is from CNN:
President Obama called her a hero, saying she “served as the only woman at the highest level of the civil rights movement — witnessing every march and milestone along the way.”
“And even in the final weeks of her life — a time when anyone else would have enjoyed their well-earned rest, Dr. Height continued her fight to make our nation a more open and inclusive place for people of every race, gender, background and faith.”
Please take a minute, watch this video and be thankful for this wonderful woman who walked among us.
Here’s a statement from Rep. Maxine Waters:
“Today our country has lost a great leader, an effective and passionate advocate and an inspiring woman. I’m deeply saddened by the passing of Dr. Dorothy Height, my dear friend and a true national treasure.
For 40 years she was the president of the National Council of Negro Women, and during that time she created the great Black family reunions that were held across this country that helped to unite communities, families and individuals, and give support to the concerted efforts to strengthen the African American family unit.
Dr. Height made it clear she was an educator, no doubt because of her close friendship and working relationship with Mary McLeod Bethune, the famed educator and civil rights icon.
Partly in Mary’s image and partly because of her own passion and perseverance, Dr. Height went on to be the key woman involved in the civil rights movement, marching in the streets of New York, standing with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Lincoln Memorial and being the only woman in attendance at the meeting with President Lyndon B. Johnson that helped shape the civil rights bill.
In fact, she had the ear of many presidents. Dr. Height recently took part in a roundtable discussion with President Barack Obama, discussing job creation and other issues in the African American community.
Dr. Height was often called upon by national, community, women and civil rights groups to be a spokesperson and an adviser, and she regularly attended national and international conferences on women.
I was honored to be a Member of Congress in 2004 when we presented Dr. Height with the Congressional Gold Medal – the highest civilian award in the U.S.
I joined Dr. Height at an event last year to support Cora Masters Barry and a recreation and education center in Washington, DC that serves many children, but was facing closure because of a legal technicality. Her intervention in part helped convince the city to keep the facility open.
Dr. Height never let her age or her physical condition prevent her from advocating for children, women, or communities of color during a life that spanned 98 years.
Dr. Height’s accomplishments, like her hats, are too numerous and too great to be properly addressed here. She was an icon, a legend and a fierce advocate for the civil rights of African Americans and for the empowerment of women and girls. Dr. Height’s presence was certainly felt throughout this country for more than half a century, and her leadership and her grace will surely be missed. I am a better person for having known and worked with her, and our country has benefited immensely from her life’s work.
My thoughts and prayers are with Dr. Height’s family and friends, and to the countless people whose lives were impacted by this great woman.”
Here’s a statement from the Human Rights Campaign:
The Human Rights Campaign – the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender civil rights organization – today notes the passing of civil rights leader Dorothy Height, president emerita of the National Council of Negro Women. Height was 98.
For over six decades, Dr. Height fought for civil rights and social justice for all Americans. In the 1960s, she organized “Wednesdays in Mississippi,” which brought interracial groups of women to the rural South to bring both supplies and support, and to encourage frank – and rare – conversations about the civil rights movement. She was the only woman seated on the podium when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech, and remained a prominent leader of the civil rights movement for the rest of her life.
“We are grateful for Dr. Height’s many decades of work for social justice,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “Today, our thoughts and prayers are with her family, her friends, and with countless of Americans who will mourn her passing. We are all beneficiaries of her life’s work.”
HRC is a member of the executive committee of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, of which Dr. Height was the Chairperson. HRC was proud to work closely with Dr. Height on issues critical to all Americans.
“Dr. Height taught us to reach out to others, and to get the conversations going,” said HRC Deputy Director for Diversity Donna Payne. “That’s how you win people’s hearts, which is what it takes to make justice happen.”
Dr. Height spoke at the 1997 HRC National Dinner in Washington, DC.:
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As expected, no mention of Height’s LGBT connection in the Clueless Closeted LA Times’ longwinded obit. Thanks for highlighting it here.