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Dorothy Height: Educator, Activist For American Blacks And Womens Rights
Thursday, April 22nd, 2010 @ 10:34 am | We Think
Dorothy Irene Height a renown and respected educator and activist has died. She was a champion for women and a champion for Black people in the United States and elsewhere around the world.
Dorothy Height was born in Virginia and at a young age moved to Pennsylvania with her family. When she was 17 years-old she was admitted to Barnard College; however upon her arrival she was denied admission due to the school’s informal policy of admitting only two black students per year.
Height was not deterred for she was determined to pursue an education and she did so at New York University where in 1932 she received her undergraduate degree. She returned to the university and the following year received a master’s degree in educational psychology.
Dorothy Height’s entrance into the world of social activism began while she was employed by the New York City Welfare Department as a case worker. It was during this time she became a member of the National Council of Negro Women, a non-profit organization established in 1935 by Mary McLeod Bethune, to expand opportunities and the quality of life for black African American females, their families and their communities.
Always well dressed, wearing her signature hat, Dorothy Height is the recipient of numerous awards including the prestigious congressional Medal of Honor.
Dorothy Height, a lifelong Delta Sigma Theta sorer, was a valiant advocate for the rights of blacks and women to be educated and gainfully employed. She will be missed.
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