Height, Dorothy (1912-2010), was an African American leader of the civil rights and women’s movements in the United States. From 1957 to 1997, she was president of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) . NCNW was founded to help improve the lives of African American women, their families, and their communities. In 1971, Height helped found the National Women’s Political Caucus (NWPC). The NWPC encourages women to seek political office and to work for women’s rights laws. During the last 15 years of her life, Height also served as the chair of the executive committee of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (now the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights), the largest civil rights organization in the United States. See Women’s movement (Women’s organizations) .
Dorothy Irene Height was born on March 24, 1912, in Richmond, Virginia. She moved with her family to Rankin, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, when she was a child. Shortly after graduating from high school, Height became a leader of the United Christian Youth Movement of North America. Height earned a bachelor’s degree in education in 1932 and a master’s degree in educational psychology in 1933, both from New York University. In 1935, she became a caseworker with New York City’s welfare department.
In 1937, Height accepted the position of assistant executive director of the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) in the Harlem district of New York City. She became a member of the YWCA’s national leadership in 1944. In 1946, Height oversaw the desegregation of the YWCA’s facilities across the country. She founded the YWCA’s Center for Racial Justice in 1965 and was head of the center until 1977.
From 1947 to 1956, Height served as president of Delta Sigma Theta, an international sorority of black women. In 1970, Height helped establish the Women’s Center for Education and Career Advancement in New York City to provide training to help women progress beyond low-income jobs.
Height received many prestigious honors and awards during her lifetime. She received 36 honorary doctorate degrees from such institutions as Tuskegee University, Harvard University, and Princeton University. In 1994, Height was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom . In 2004, she received the Congressional Gold Medal. The two medals are the nation’s highest honors awarded to civilians.
Height wrote a memoir, Open Wide the Freedom Gates (2003). It was made into a stage musical called If This Hat Could Talk (2005). Height died on April 20, 2010.
