[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 64 (Friday, April 20, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E811-E812]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




DOROTHY IRENE HEIGHT, CHAIR AND PRESIDENT EMERITA, NATIONAL COUNCIL OF 
                              NEGRO WOMEN

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON-LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, April 20, 2007

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Madam Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to a 
national treasure and American icon on the occasion of her 95th 
birthday. I am speaking, of course, of the incomparable, irrepressible, 
and legendary Dorothy Irene Height. For more than half a century, 
Dorothy Irene Height has played a leading role in the never ending 
struggle for equality and human rights here at home and around the 
world. Her life exemplifies her passionate commitment for a just 
society and her vision of a better world.
  Dorothy Height was born in Richmond, VA, on March 24, 1912, and 
educated in the public schools of Rankin, PA, a borough of Pittsburgh, 
where her family moved when she was four. She established herself early 
as a dedicated student with exceptional oratorical skills. After 
winning a $1,000 scholarship in a national oratorical contest on the 
United States Constitution, sponsored by the Fraternal Order of the 
Elks, and compiling a distinguished academic record, she enrolled in 
New York University where she earned both her bachelor and master's 
degrees in just 4 years. She continued her postgraduate studies at 
Columbia University and the New York School of Social Work.
  In 1933, Dorothy Height joined the United Christian Youth Movement of 
North America where her leadership qualities earned her the trust and 
confidence of her peers. It was during this period that she began to 
emerge as an effective civil rights advocate as she worked to prevent 
lynching, desegregate the armed forces, reform the criminal justice 
system, and provide free access to public accommodations. In 1935, 
Dorothy Height was appointed by New York government officials to deal 
with the aftermath of the Harlem riot of 1935.
  As Vice President of the United Christian Youth Movement of North 
America, Dorothy Height was one of only ten American youth delegates to 
the 1937 World Conference on Life and Work of the Churches held in 
Oxford, England. Two years later she was selected to represent the YWCA 
at the World Conference of Christian Youth in Amsterdam, Holland.
  It was in 1937, while serving as Assistant Executive Director of the 
Harlem YWCA, that Dorothy Height met Mary McLeod Bethune, founder and 
president of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW). Mrs. Bethune 
was immediately impressed with young Dorothy Height's poise and 
intelligence and invited her to join the NCNW and assist in the quest 
for women's rights to full and equal employment, pay and education.
  In 1938, Dorothy Height was one of ten young Americans invited by 
Eleanor Roosevelt to Hyde Park, NY, to help plan and prepare for the 
World Youth Conference to be held at Vassar College.
  For the next several years, Dorothy Height served in a dual role: as 
a YWCA staff member and NCNW volunteer, integrating her training as a 
social worker and her commitment to rise above the limitations of race 
and sex. She rose quickly through the ranks of the YWCA, from working 
at the Emma Ransom House in Harlem to the Executive Directorship of the 
Phyllis Wheatley YWCA in Washington, DC, to the YWCA National 
Headquarters office.
  For 33 years, from 1944 through 1977, Dorothy Height served on the 
staff of the National Board of the YWCA and held several leadership 
positions in public affairs and leadership training and as Director of 
the National YWCA School for Professional Workers. In 1965, she was 
named Director of the Center for Racial Justice, a position she held 
until her retirement.
  In 1952, Dorothy Height lived in India, where she worked as a 
visiting professor in the Delhi School of Social Work at the University 
of Delhi, which was founded by the YWCAs of India, Burma and Ceylon. 
She would become renowned for her internationalism and humanitarianism. 
She traveled around the world expanding the work of the YWCA. She 
conducted a well-received study of the training of women's 
organizations in five African countries: Liberia, Ghana, Guinea, Sierra 
Leone, and Nigeria under the Committee of Correspondence.
  Dorothy Height loved and led her sorority, Delta Sigma Theta. She was 
elected National President of the sorority in 1947 and served in that 
capacity until 1956. She led the sorority to a new level of 
organizational development, initiation eligibility, and social action 
throughout her term. Her leadership training skills, social work 
background and knowledge of volunteerism benefited the sorority as it 
moved into a new era of activism on the national and international 
scene.
  In 1957, Dorothy Height was elected the fourth National President of 
NCNW and served in that position for 40 years, when she became Chair of 
the Board and President Emerita.
  In 1960, Dorothy Height was the woman team member leader in the 
United Civil Rights Leadership along with Martin Luther King, Jr., 
Whitney H. Young, A. Philip Randolph, James Farmer, Roy Wilkins and 
John Lewis. In 1961, while Dorothy Height was participating in major 
Civil Rights leadership, she led NCNW to deal with unmet needs among 
women and their families to combat hunger, develop cooperative pig 
banks, and provided families with community freezers and showers.

  In 1964, after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, Dorothy Height 
with Polly Cowan, an NCNW Board Member, organized teams of women of 
different races and faiths as ``Wednesdays in Mississippi'' to assist 
in the freedom schools and open communication between women of 
different races. The workshops which followed stressed the need for 
decent housing which became the basis for NCNW in partnership with the 
Department of Housing and Urban Development to develop Turnkey III Home 
Ownership for low-income families in Gulfport, MS.
  In 1970, Dorothy Height directed the series of activities culminating 
in the YWCA Convention adopting as its ``One Imperative'' to the 
elimination of racism. That same year she also established the Women's 
Center for Education and Career Advancement in New York City to prepare 
women for entry-level jobs. This experience led her in 1975 to 
collaborate with Pace College to establish a course of study leading to 
the Associate Degree for Professional Studies (AAPS).

[[Page E812]]

  In 1975, Dorothy Height participated in the Tribunal at the 
International Women's Year Conference of the United Nations in Mexico 
City. As a result of this experience, NCNW was awarded a grant from the 
United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to hold a 
conference within the conference for women from the United States, 
African countries, South America, Mexico and the Caribbean. This was 
followed with a site visit with 50 of the women to visit with rural 
women in Mississippi. Under the auspices of the USAID, Dorothy Height 
lectured in South Africa after addressing the National Convention of 
the Black Women's Federation of South Africa near Johannesburg (1977). 
Since 1986, she has worked tirelessly to strengthen the Black family.
  Madam Speaker, under the leadership of Dorothy Height: NCNW achieved 
tax-exempt status in 1966; NCNW dedicated the statue of Mary McLeod 
Bethune in Lincoln Park, Washington DC in 1974--the first woman to be 
so honored on public land in the Nation's Capital; developed model 
national and community-based programs ranging from teenage parenting to 
pig ``banks''--which addressed hunger in rural areas; established the 
Bethune Museum and Archives for Black Women, the first institution 
devoted to black women's history; established the Bethune Council House 
as a national historic site; transformed NCNW into an issue-oriented 
political organization, sponsoring ``Wednesdays in Mississippi'' when 
interracial groups of women would help out at Freedom Schools 
organizing voter registration drives in the South and fostering 
communications between black and white women; and established the Black 
Family Reunion Celebration in 1986 to reinforce the historic strengths 
and traditional values of the black family.
  Among the major awards bestowed upon Dorothy Irene Height in 
gratitude and appreciation for her service to our Nation and the world 
are the following: Presidential Medal of Freedom presented by President 
Bill Clinton; Congressional Gold Medal presented by President George W. 
Bush; John F. Kennedy Memorial Award; NAACP--Spingarn Medal; Hadassah 
Myrtle Wreath of Achievement; Ministerial Interfaith Association Award; 
Ladies Home Journal--Woman of the Year; Congressional Black Caucus--
Decades of Service; President Ronald Reagan--Citizens Medal; Franklin 
Roosevelt--Freedom Medal; Essence Award; and the Camille Cosby World of 
Children Award.
  Dorothy Height was also elected to the National Women's Hall of Fame 
and is the recipient of 36 honorary degrees from colleges and 
universities as diverse as: Tuskegee University, Harvard University, 
Spelman College, Princeton University, Bennett College, Pace 
University, Lincoln University, Columbia University, Howard University, 
New York University, Morehouse College, and Meharry Medical College.
  Madam Speaker, Dorothy Height has witnessed or participated in 
virtually every major movement for social and political change in the 
last century. For nearly 75 years, Dorothy Height has fought for the 
equality and human rights of all people. She was the only female member 
of the ``Big 6'' civil rights leaders (Whitney Young, Jr., A. Philip 
Randolph, Martin Luther King, Jr., James Farmer, and Roy Wilkins). Her 
vision and dedication made NCNW the premier organization in advocating 
for the health, education and economic empowerment for all women of 
African descent around the world.
  Thank you, Dorothy Height, for your service to our Nation. You have 
made America a better place for all persons of all races, religions, 
and backgrounds. You have mentored hundreds, been a role model to 
thousands, and a hero to millions. You are an American original. I am 
glad to count you as a friend.

                          ____________________