Dorothy Irene Height, 98, a founding matriarch of the American civil rights movement and tireless crusader for racial and gender equality, died early this morning. [Harpyness]
I admire such people as Dorothy Height.
Height was admitted to Barnard College in 1929, but was denied entrance because the school had already reached its limit of two black students. She said the experience left her crushed.
Dr. Height was among the coalition of African American leaders who pushed civil rights to the center of the American political stage after World War II, and she was a key figure in the struggles for school desegregation, voting rights, employment opportunities and public accommodations in the 1950s and 1960s. Dr. Height was president of the National Council of Negro Women for 40 years. The 4 million-member advocacy group consists of 34 national and 250 community-based organizations. It was founded in 1935 by educator Mary McLeod Bethune, who was one of Dr. Height’s mentors.
In August 1963, Dr. Height was on the platform with Martin Luther King, Jr. when he delivered his “I Have A Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial.
The 1960’s was an epic struggle for the civil rights movement. The American people owe such people as Height a great debt of gratitude.
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