Dorothy I. Height

1998 Honoree

Dorothy I. Height has a passion for people. And as president of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) since 1957, she has turned her passion and leadership toward the struggle for equality and human rights for all people.

Ms. Height was born in Richmond, Virginia, on March 24, 1912, but later moved to Rankin, Pennsylvania, a small town near Pittsburgh, where she attended public schools. Ms. Height established herself early as a dedicated student with exceptional oratorical skills. With a $1,000 scholarship for winning a national oratorical contest sponsored by the Elks and a record of scholastic excellence, she enrolled in New York University and earned both bachelor and master's degrees in four years.

Ms. Height has carried out the dream of her friend and mentor and founder of the NCNW, Mary McLeod Bethune, to leave no one behind. She has helped to advance women's rights; initiate food drives, child care and housing projects; and implement career and educational programs that embody the principles of self-reliance. In the 1960s, Ms. Height placed the organization on a course of action, sponsoring "Wednesdays in Mississippi," days when interracial groups of women would assist at Freedom Schools; and voter registration and education drives in the north and south.

The former national president of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority was also a celebrated and active leader in the Civil Rights Movement and Women's Movement. Her selfless and extraordinary involvement in advancing women's rights, her dedication to the liberation of blacks, and her selfless determination were only a few of the reasons why President Bill Clinton presented Ms. Height with the Presidential Medal of Freedom Award in August 1994.

As a promoter of positive black family life, Height conceived and organized the Black Family Reunion Celebration in 1986 to reinforce the historic strengths and traditional values of the African-American family. Now in its eleventh year in nine cities, the Celebration has made a difference in the lives of those fourteen million who have participated. And... so has Ms. Height during her six decades of public life as dream giver, earth shaker, and crusader for human rights.