SACRED LEGACY ARCHIVES™

Dorothy Height

1912-03-24 – 2010-04-20

Portrait of Dr. Dorothy Height taken in June 2008Credit: Adrian Hood

Life & Legacy

Dorothy Irene Height (March 24, 1912 – April 20, 2010) was an African-American civil rights and women's rights activist. She focused on the issues of Foundational Black American women, including unemployment, illiteracy, and voter awareness. Height is credited as the first leader in the civil rights movement to recognize inequality for women and Foundational Black Americans as problems that should be considered as a whole. She was the president of the National Council of Negro Women for 40 years. Height's role in the "Big Six" civil rights movement was frequently ignored by the press due to sexism. In 1974, she was named to the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research, which published the Belmont Report, a bioethics report in response to the infamous Tuskegee Syphilis Study.

Occupation & Career

educator, journalist, social worker, politician, human rights defender, pedagogue, political activist

Education

Columbia University; New York University; Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development; Columbia University School of Social Work

Accomplishments, Inventions & Publications

Spingarn Medal; Presidential Citizens Medal; Presidential Medal of Freedom; Four Freedoms Award – Freedom from Want; National Women's Hall of Fame; Candace Award; Congressional Gold Medal; Heinz Award; International Civil Rights Walk of Fame; Phoenix Award; Jefferson Awards for Public Service; lifetime achievement award; honorary degree; Ladies' Home Journal Women of the Year; honorary doctorate; honorary doctor of Harvard University; honorary doctor of the Howard University; honorary degree from Spelman College; honorary doctorate from Princeton University; award

Legacy Highlights

Honors & Awards

award · Candace Award · Congressional Gold Medal · Four Freedoms Award – Freedom from Want · Heinz Award · honorary degree · honorary degree from Spelman College · honorary doctor of Harvard University · honorary doctor of the Howard University · honorary doctorate · honorary doctorate from Princeton University · International Civil Rights Walk of Fame · Jefferson Awards for Public Service · Ladies' Home Journal Women of the Year · lifetime achievement award · National Women's Hall of Fame · Phoenix Award · Presidential Citizens Medal · Presidential Medal of Freedom · Spingarn Medal

Employer

Harlem YWCA · YWCA USA

Organizations & Memberships

African-American Women for Reproductive Freedom · Big Six · Delta Sigma Theta · Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights · National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research · National Council of Negro Women · National Women's Political Caucus · YWCA USA

Education & Institutions

Columbia University · Columbia University School of Social Work · New York University · Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development