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Dorothy
Height
-
-1-
I need to state the obvious. Language falls short when it is
tasked to convey all that Miss Height has given us. Who can size
up her place in history or pay fair tribute to her spirit and
accomplishment.
Not surprisingly, Miss Height's description of the woman
who most inspired her, comes the closest
Miss Height said, "I never met a person who used her own
personal power for others like my mentor, Mary McLeod Bethune."
Our country and our community has been blessed with two African
American women who fit that description, and Miss Height is the
second one.
She walks among us with such beauty and character and creative
force--she possesses such a gift for seeing what is possible and
teaching what is just--she takes such care to get things right,
and once she is fully prepared so often risks her life for us--
that it is hard to consider all she has done, and all she will
do, and still think of Miss Height as one of us mere mortals. To
those who thrive in her wake and wage our own struggle with the
rights she has won for us, Miss Height is simply a person of
when I look into her eyes I see a queen.
regal stature. To me, in the ancient sense, she is a queen.
The Book of Esther always has been a guide for me, and I never
read Esther's story without thinking of Miss Height. Made a
40221-6267
40
-2-
queen by King Xerxes because her beauty and character had won his
heart, Esther risks her life by revealing herself to be a Jew and
going before the king to ask that he withdraw his order to kill
all those of Jewish birth. She boldly saves her people, but
Esther's bravery is never rash. She knows that courage does not
supplant careful planning. She calculates the cost of action,
and finds her life is at stake. She sets priorities, placing the
lives of others above her own safety. She carefully sets a
course of action then moves boldly forth. Esther could have
risked very little and saved her life and that of Mordecai, her
stepfather. Instead, she and Mordecai saw that God had placed
them where they were for a purpose--that it was within their
reach to save others. They didn't ask God to fix things. They
asked Him for direction and they acted.
Miss Height does not ask God to fix things for her or her people.
She gets in a position and she uses it. Like Esther, she knows
how to use the positive. Like Esther, Miss Height gathers her
people together to talk and plan and pray. And like Esther, Miss
Height moves when she knows she is ready, saying, "If I perish, I
perish
for who knoweth if thou art come to the kingdom for such
a time as this."
-3-
of all her accomplishments, I like to think of one that may be
lesser known as exemplifying Miss Height and her great resolve.
She fought long and hard to gain approval for a statue of Mrs.
Bethune in Lincoln Park, in Washington--an image of great power,
grace and joy, with the figure of Mrs. Bethune holding the hands
of children. It was the first monument to an African American in
our nation's capital. But after its unveiling, Miss Height
noticed that across the park a statue of President Lincoln stood
with his back to Mrs. Bethune. To Miss Height it was obvious--it
had to be turned around. Now erecting a sculpture of a black
woman was one thing, but uprooting Mr. Lincoln and reversing his
field of view was quite another. But Miss Height gathered her
people, set her network in action, prayed, explained, argued,
cajoled and persevered with one fixed goal in mind. No matter
how many city fathers cited precedents or practicality, no matter
how many city planners argued aesthetics, Miss Height patiently
stood by what she knew was right, for public sculpture is a
symbol and a message to our young. and today in Lincoln Park,
its namesake gazes with respect at Mary McLeod Bethune.
Remembering her mentor, Miss Height once said, "Next to my own
mother, Mrs. Bethune had the greatest impact on me. I learned
from her that you have to your homework. You just don't jump off
on things. "
-4-
Miss Height, in large part we are here tonight because you taught
us to do our homework. To praise you, we will work with you on
all that is left to do. To honor you, we will learn from your
works and heed your voice, and use the positions we earn to help
people. And inspired by you, we each will ask, as Esther asked
so long ago, "How can I endure to see the evil the shall come
unto my people, or how can I endure to see the destruction of my
kindred. "
1
I have searched and prayed for adequate words to say about Miss
Height. And I must tell you that it is impossible to find words
that convey all she has given us, that can size up her place in
history or pay fair tribute to her spirit and accomplishment.
In fact, the best I've found are words that Dorothy Height
herself used to describe the individual who most inspired her.
Miss Height said, "I never met a person who used her own
personal power for others like my mentor, Mary McLeod Bethune."
In fact, however, our country has been blessed with two African
American women who fit that description, and Miss Height is the
second one.
She walks among us with such beauty and character and creative
force--she possesses such a gift for seeing what is possible and
teaching what is just--she takes such care to get things right,
and once she is fully prepared so often risks her life for us--
that it is hard to consider all she has done, and all she will
do, and still think of Miss Height as one of us mere mortals. To
those who thrive in her wake and wage our own struggle with the
rights she has won for us, Miss Height is simply a person of
regal stature. To me, in the ancient sense, she is a queen.
The Book of Esther always has been a guide for me, and I never
read Esther's story without thinking of Miss Height. Made a
2
queen by King Xerxes because her beauty and character had won his
heart, Esther risks her life by revealing herself to be a Jew and
going before the king to ask that he withdraw his order to kill
all those of Jewish birth. She boldly saves her people, but
Esther's bravery is never rash. She knows that courage does not
supplant careful planning. She calculates the cost of action,
and finds her life is at stake. She sets priorities, placing the
lives of others above her own safety. She carefully sets a
course of action then moves boldly forth. Esther could have
risked very little and saved her life and that of Mordecai, her
stepfather. Instead, she and Mordecai saw that God had placed
them where they were for a purpose--that it was within their
reach to save others. They didn't ask God to fix things. They
asked Him for direction and they acted.
Miss Height does not ask God to fix things for her or her people.
She gets in a position and she uses it. Like Esther, she knows
how to use the positive. Like Esther, Miss Height gathers her
people together to talk and plan and pray. And like Esther, Miss
Height moves when she knows she is ready, saying, "If I perish, I
perish
for who knoweth if thou art come to the kingdom for such
a time as this II
Of all her accomplishments, I like to think of one that may be
lesser known as exemplifying Miss Height and her great resolve.
She fought long and hard to gain approval for a statue of Mrs.
3
Bethune in Lincoln Park, in Washington--an image of great power,
grace and joy, with the figure of Mrs. Bethune holding the hands
of children. It was the first monument to an African American in
our nation's capital. But after its unveiling, Miss Height
noticed that across the park a statue of President Lincoln stood
with his back to Mrs. Bethune. To Miss Height it was obvious--it
had to be turned around. Now erecting a sculpture of a black
woman was one thing, but uprooting Mr. Lincoln and reversing his
field of view was quite another. But Miss Height gathered her
people, set her network in action, prayed, explained, argued,
cajoled and persevered with one fixed goal in mind. No matter
how many city fathers cited precedents or practicality, no matter
how many city planners argued aesthetics, Miss Height patiently
stood by what she knew was right, for public sculpture is a
symbol and a message to our young. and today in Lincoln Park,
its namesake gazes with respect at Mary McLeod Bethune.
Remembering her mentor, Miss Height once said, "Next to my own
mother, Mrs. Bethune had the greatest impact on me. I learned
from her that you have to your homework. You just don't jump off
on things."
Miss Height, in large part we are here tonight because you taught
us to do our homework. To praise you, we will work with you on
all that is left to do. To honor you, we will learn from your
works and heed your voice, and use the positions we earn to help
4
people. And inspired by you, we each will ask, as Esther asked
so long ago, "How can I endure to see the evil the shall come
unto my people, or how can I endure to see the destruction of my
kindred. "
I have searched and prayed for adequate words to say about Miss
Height And I must tell you that it is impossible to find words
that convey all she has given us, that can size up her place in
history or pay fair tribute to her spirit and accomplishment.
In fact, the best I've found are words that Dorothy Height herself
used to describe the individual who most inspired her. Miss Height
said, "I never met a person who used her own personal power for
others like my mentor, Mary McLeod Bethune. " In fact, however, our
country has been blessed with two African American women who fit
that description, and Miss Height is the second one.
She walks among us with such beauty and character and creative
force-she possesses such a gift for seeing what is possible and
teaching what is just--she takes such care to get things right, and
once she is fully prepared so often risks her life for us - that it
is hard to consider all she has done, and all she will do, and
still think of Miss Height as one of us mere mortals. To those who
thrive in her wake and wage our own struggle with the rights she
has won for us, Miss Height is simply a person of regal stature.
To me, in the ancient sense, she is a queen.
The Book of Esther always has been a guide for me, and I never read
Esther's story without thinking of Miss Height. Made a queen by
King Xerxes because her beauty and character had won his heart,
Esther risks her life by revealing herself to be Jew and going
before the king to ask that he withdraw his order to kill all those
of Jewish birth. She boldly saves her people, but Esther's bravery
is never rash. She knows that courage does not supplant careful
planning. She calculates the cost of action, and finds her life is
at stake. She sets priorities, placing the lives of others above
her own safety. She carefully sets a course of action then moves
boldly forth. Esther could have risked very little and saved her
life and that of Mordecai, her stepfather. Instead, she and
Mordecai saw that God had placed them where they were for a
purpose that it was within their reach to save others. They
didn't ask God to fix things. They asked Him for direction and
they acted.
Miss Height does not ask God to fix things for her or her people.
She gets in a position and she uses it. Like Esther, she knows how
to use the positive. Like Esther, Miss Height gathers her people
together to talk and plan and pray. And like Esther, Miss Height
moves when she knows she is ready, saying, "If I perish, I
perish
for who knoweth if thou art come to the kingdom for such
a time as this. "
Of all her accomplishments, I like to think of one that may be
lesser known as exemplifying Miss Height and her great resolve.
She fought long and hard to gain approval for a statue of Mrs.
Bethune in Lincoln Park, in Washington--an image of great power,
grace and joy, with the figure of Mrs. Bethune holding the hands of
children. It was the first monument to an African American in our
nation's capital. But after its unveiling, Miss Height noticed
that across the park a statue of President Lincoln stood with his
back to Mrs. Bethune. To Miss Height it was obvious--: it had to be
turned around. Now erecting a sculpture of a black woman was one
thing, but uprooting Mr. Lincoln and reversing his field of view
was quite another. But Miss Height gathered her people, set her
network in action, prayed, explained, argued, cajoled and
persevered with one fixed goal in mind. No matter how many city
fathers cited precedents or practicality, no matter how many city
planners argued aesthetics, Miss Height patiently stood by what she
knew was right, for public sculpture is a symbol and a message to
our young. And today in Lincoln Park, its namesake gazes with
shared resolve and due respect at Mary McLeod Bethune.
Remembering her mentor, Miss Height once said, "Next to my own
mother, Mrs. Bethune had the greatest impact on me. I learned from
her that you have to do your homework. You just don't jump off on
things.' "
Miss Height, in large part we are here tonight because you taught
us to do our homework. To praise you, we will work with you on all
that is left to do. To honor you, we will learn from your works
and heed your voice, and use the positions we earn to help people.
And inspired by you, we each will ask, as Esther asked SO long ago,
"How can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people,
or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred."
PN: SHERRI TO HANDLE WIRELESS MIKES FOR PARTICIPANTS.
1. CHILDREN WITH SPEAKING ROLES
2. CANDY CAROWAN FOR ONE MAN HANDS
3. POSSIBLE FOR H.Q.'S SOLOIST
STOOL AND MIKES FOR GUY AND CANDIE CAROWAN TO THE LEFT OF THE
STAGE.
5:30p - 7:30p Dinner
PN: BREAK DOWN CHOIR CHAIRS AFTER SERVICE. STORE BEHIND STAGE.
SET TABLE AND CHAIRS FOR EVENING SESSION
ARRANGE ODETTA'S SEATING AND MIKE POSITION
7:30p - 7:55p Break
7:55p
Call to order with bell ringing
PN: SHERRI TO RING BELL
8:00p - 8:02p Marylin Levitt to introduce Odetta for a
Celebration of our Children's Musical Heritage
8:02p - 8:30p Odetta Performance
8:30p - 8:32p Marylin Levitt to introduce David Lewis
8:32p - 8:42p David Lewis to honor John Hope Franklin
8:42p - 8:57p John Hope Franklin speech
8:57p - 8:59p Marylin Levitt to introduce Maggie Williams
9:00p - 9:10p Maggie to honor Dorothy Height
9:10p - 9:25p Dorothy Height speech
9:25p - 9:30p Marylin Levitt will thank participants and guests
and remind everyone participating in the working
meetings on Saturdays that breakfast is on your own
and we'll be convene at 8:55a.
Musical selection H.Q. Thompson
PN: SOLOIST NEEDS WIRELESS MIKE
PRE-PRODUCTION FOR SATURDAY
BREAKDOWN OF EXTRA TABLES AND CHAIRS IN FOOD TENT. REMOVE DIRTY
LINENS (KIM TO CONFIRM #'S FOR SATURDAY SET UP)
REMOVE CHOIR RISERS, TWO PRESS RISERS, EXTRA CHAIRS, AND PRESS TENT
MOVE PIANO FROM PROGRAM TENT TO FOOD TENT
ADD TWO RECTANGULAR TABLES ON EITHER SIDE OR TO THE SIDE OF PODIUM
IN PROGRAM TENT. (CONFIRM ARRANGEMENT WITH AGB)
EAV TO ADD 5 TABLE MIKES TO PROGRAM TENT
CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND/BLACK COMMUNITY CRUSADE FOR CHILDREN
Thanksgiving and Homecoming Celebration
Former Alex Haley Farm, Norris, Tennessee
September 23 - 25, 1994
TIME SCRIPT/PRODUCTION SCHEDULE
Friday, September, 23, 1994
PN: PIANO DELIVERED
12:00p
EAV ARRIVAL
2:00p
ODETTA SOUND CHECK
2:30p (CONFIRM POSITION AND
(ONILYAS
INTERFAITH LEADERS BRIEFING
3:30p
Opening Ceremony of Welcome
PN: SHERRI TO RING BELL
PN: CHOIRS SEATED UP FRONT
3:55p - 4:00p Call to order with bell ringing followed by music
by H.Q. Thompson
4:00p - 4:05p Statement of Mission by MWE
4:05p - 4:08p Song: Amazing Grace
4:08p - 4:09p MWE introduction of George Haley
4:10p - 4:13p George Haley welcome
4:13p - 4:14p MWE introduction of Charles Burson
4:15p - 4:18p Tennessee Attorney General Charles W. Burson
welcome
4:19p - 4:20p MWE introduction of Bill Purcell
4:21p - 4:24p House Majority Leader Bill Purcell welcome
4:25p - 4:28p MWE introduction of Mary Sasser
4:28p - 4:31p Mary Sasser welcome
4:32p - 4:34p MWE acknowledges Haley family and Haley farm staff
before announcing interfaith service, followed by
dinner in the food tent, and rest room locations.
PN: TEN CHAIRS ADDED TO THE STAGE, SIGNAL TO SHANNON TO BEGIN
PROCESSIONAL
4:35p - 5:30p Interfaith Service
I NEED TO STATE THE OBVIOU. 1ANGUAGE FALLS SHORT WHEN IT IS TASKED
TO CONVEY ALL THAT NISS HEIGHT HAS GIVEN US. WHO CAN SIZE UP HER
PLACE IN HISTORY OR PAY FAIR TRIBUTE TO HER SPIRIT AND
ACCOMPLISHMENT.
SHE WALKS AMONG US WITH SUCH GRACE AND CHARACTER AND CREATIVE FORCE
SHE POSSESSES SUCH A GIFT FOR SEEING WHAT IS POSSIBLE. SHE TAKES
SUCH CARE TO GET THINGS RIGHT, AND ONCE SHE IS FULLY PREPARED,
SHE ACTS.
DOROTHY HEIGHT GREW UP IN THE SMALL MINING TOWN OF RANKIN,
CHR
PENSSYLVANIA. LIKE HER MOTHER SHE WAS ALWAYS ACTIVE IN CHURCH
GROUPS AND CLUBS. SHE WAS AND IS, SMART, BEAUTIFUL AND TALL --
SHE PLAYED CENTER ON HER HIGH SCHOOL BASKET BALL TEAM.
SHE WAS ACTIVE IN THE YWCA AND LED THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE FEERA-
TION OF GIRLS CLUBS WHEN SHE WAS FOURTEEN. FROM THE VERY
BEGINNING SHE WAS BUSY ORGANIZING.
AS A YOUNG WOMAN SHE WENT TO OXFORD ENGLAND REPRESENTING THE UNITED
CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT AT THE INTERNATIONAL CHURCH CONFERENCE.
THEN IT WAS ON TO AMSTERDAM AND THE WORLD CONFERENCE OF CHRISTIAN
YOUTH. LATER AS A MEMBER OF THE AHRLEM YOUTH COUNCIL SHE
HELPED ELEANOR ROOSEVELT PLAN THE 1938 WORLD YOUTH COUNCIL.
AND THE PEOPLE BEGAN TO NOTICE HER. SHE WAS A WORLD CLASS STAR.
SHE WAS AND IS, AS MANY OF HER YOUNG ADMIRERS ARE FOND OF SAYING,
"THE HARDEST WORKING WOMAN IN SHOW BUSINESS."
MISS HEGHT THEN WENT TO WORK FOR THE YWCA, FIRST DIRECTING A
LODGING HOME FOR BLACK WOMEN. IN THAT POSITION, SHE SOON BECAME AN
ADVOCATE FOR BLACK WOMEN IN DOMESTIC
1
I NEED TO STATE THE OBVIOUS. 1ANGUAGE FALLS SHORT WHEN IT IS
TASKED TO CONVEY ALL THAT MISS HEIGHT HAS GIVEN US. WHO CAN SIZE
HER PLACE IN HISTORY OR PAY FAIR TRIBUTE TO HER SPIRIT AND
ACCOMPLISHMENT.
SHE WALKS AMONG US WITH SUCH GRACE AND CHARACTER AND CREATIVE FORCE
SHE POSSESSES SUCH A GIFT FOR SEEING WHAT IS POSSIBLE.
SHE TAKES
(SUCH CARE TO GET THINGS RIGHT, AND ONCE SHE IS FULLY PREPARED,
SHE ACTS.
DOROTHY HEIGHT GREW UP IN THE SMALL MINING TOWN OF RANKIN
PENNSYLVANIA. LIKE HER MOTHER SHE WAS ALWAYS ACTIVE IN CHURCH
GROUPS AND CLUBS. SHE WAS AND IS, SMART, BEAUTIFUL AND TALL --
2
SHE PLAYED CENTER ON HER HIGH SCHOOL BASKET BALL TEAM.
SHE WAS ACTIVE IN THE YWCA AND LED THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE FEERA-
TION OF GIRLS CLUBS WHEN SHE WAS FOURTEEN. FROM THE VERY
BEGINNING SHE WAS BUSY ORGANIZING.
AS A YOUNG WOMAN SHE WENT TO OXFORD ENGLAND REPRESENTING THE UNITED
CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT AT THE INTERNATIONAL CHURCH CONFERENCE.
THEN IT WAS ON TO AMSTERDAM AND THE WORLD CONFERENCE OF CHRISTIAN
YOUTH. LATER AS A MEMBER OF THE AHRLEM YOUTH COUNCIL SHE
HELPED ELEANOR ROOSEVELT PLAN THE 1938 WORLD YOUTH COUNCIL.
AND THE PEOPLE BEGAN TO NOTICE HER. SHE WAS A WORLD CLASS STAR.
SHE WAS AND IS, AS MANY OF HER YOUNG ADMIRERS ARE FOND OF SAYING,
"THE HARDEST WORKING WOMAN IN SHOW BUSINESS."
MISS HEGHT THEN WENT TO WORK FOR THE YWCA, FIRST DIRECTING A
LODGING HOME FOR BLACK WOMEN. IN THAT POSITION, SHE SOON BECAME AN
ADVOCATE FOR BLACK WOMEN IN DOMESTIC SERVICE JOBS.
LATER SHE BECAME A STAFF MEMBER FOR THE NATIONAL YWCA BOARD AND
EVENTUALLY SERVED AS ITS INTERRACIAL EDUCATION SECRETARY.
3
DURING THIS PERIOD MISS HEIGHT WAS ACTIVE IN THE DELTA SIGMA THETA
of
SORORITY AND THEN AS PRESIDENT THAT ORGANIZATION, SOUGHT TO BUILD
A BRIDGE BETWEEN AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN AND WOMEN IN THIRD WORLD
COUNTRIES. MISS HEIGHT CAN BE CREDITED WITH THE CREATION OF
INTERNATIONAL DELTA CHAPTERS. AND THE DELTAS UNDER MISS HEIGHT'S
LEADERSHIP ESTABLISHED ONE OF THE FIRST HAITIAN RELIEF FUNDS.
IN 1957 MISS HEIGH BECAME PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF
NEGRO WOMEN. MISS HEIGHT HAD FIRST MET HER NCNW PREDECESSOR AND
50m
MENTOR , MARY MCLEOD BETHUNE TWENTY YEARS EARLIER.
MISS HEIGHT RECALLED THAT FIRST MEETING IN AN INTERVIEW WITH
ESSENCE MAGAZINE, "I HAD NEVER MET A PERSON WHO USED HER OWN
PERSONAL POWER FOR OTHERS LIKE MY MENTOR, MARY MCLEOD BETHUNE.
THE DAY I MET MRS. BETHUNE WAS NOVEMBER 7, 1937. I WAS WORKING
GOR
THE PHILLIS WHEATLEY YWCA IN NEW YORK AND MRS BETHUNE WAS HAVING A
MEETING OF THE MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF NEGRO WOMEN. I
HAD SEEN HER AND HEARD HER BUT NEVER HAD ANY DIRECT CONTACT WITH
HER. .MRS. ROOSEVELT WAS SCHEDULED TO SPEAK AT THE MEETING. I WAS
ASSIGNED TO MEET HER AT THE DOOR. SHE CAME THROUGH THE SERVICE
ENTRANCE AND I RAN AROUND TO GET HER. SHE MADE HER SPEECH, AND ALL
THE WOMEN SANG ONE OF MRS. BETHUNE'S FAVORITE SONG, 'LET ME CALL
YOU SWEET HEART'. AS I WAS ABOUT TO LEAVE, MRS. BETHUNE STOPPED ME
AND ASKED ME MY NAME AND SAID, 'COME BACK WE NEED YOU.' I KNEW
MRS. BETHUNE FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE.
TO NIGHT, I HAVE TOLD YOU VERY LITTLE ABOUT DOROTHY IRENE HEIGHT.
4
IT IS HARD TO CONSIDER ALL SHE HAS DONE, AND ALL SHE WILL DO, AND
STILL THINK OF HER AS ONE OF US MERE MORTALS.
TO THOSE WHO THRIVE IN HER WAKE, MISS HEIGHT IS A PERSON OF REGAL
STATURE. TO ME, IN THE ANCIENT SENSE, SHE IS INDEED A QUEEN.
THE OLD TESTAMENT STORY OF ESTER HAS ALWAYS BEEN A KIND OF
PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR ME. A HANDBOOK OF ACTION, WHERE PRAYING AND
PLANNING AND DEVELOPING A STRATEGY ACTUALLY PAYS OFF. EVEN WHEN
THE STAKES ARE HIGH. EVEN WHEN THE MISSION IS RISKY. EVEN WHEN
THE CRITICS ARE MANY.
WHEN I READ ESTHER'S STORY I THINK OF MISS HEIGHT.
(feep
of
MADE A QUEEN BY KING XERXES BECAUSE HER BEAUTY AND CHARACTER HAD
WON HIS HEART, ESTHER RISKS HER KIFE BY REVEALING HERSELF TO BE A
JEW AND GOING BEFORE THE KING TO ASK THAT HE WITHDRAW HIS ORDER TO
KILL ALL THOSE OF JEWISH BIRTH.
SHE BOLDLY SAVES HER PEOPLE BUT ESTHER'S BRAVERY IS SUPPLEMENTED
BY COOL CALCULATION. SHE KNOWS THAT COURAGE COUPLED WITH VISION AND
AND AN IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY IS BOUND TO BE SUCESSFUL. AND SHE'S
GOT POSITION, A FORUM, A PATFORM -- AFTER ALL SHE IS THE QUEEN.
ESTHER KNOWS THE COST OF HER ACTION -- HER LIFE IS AT STAKE. SHE
SETS PRIORITIES AND PLACES THE INTERESTS OF OTHERS ABOVE HER OWN
3
AND THEN MOVES BOLDLY FORTH.
ESTHER COULD HAVE RISKED LITTLE AND SAVED HER OWN LIFE AND THAT OF
MORDECAI HER STEPFATHER. INSTEAD SHE UNDERSTOOD THAT HER LIFE AND
HAP
A FIXED PURPOSE. ESTHER TRAVELLED TO THE PALACE FOR A REASON.
GOS
HAD PLACED ESTHER IN HER POSITION "FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS".
LIKE ESTHER MISS HEIGHT KNOWS HOW TO USE POSITION. LIKE ESTHER
MISS HEIGHT SEIZES THE OPPORTUNE MOEMNT-- AND CREATES, CREATES THE
MOMENT IF IT DOES NOT EXIST. MAKING A WAY OUT OF NO WAY.
LIKE ESTHER, MISS HEIGHT BRINGS PEOPLE TOGETHER TO TALK AND PLAN
AND PRAY. AND LIKE ESTHER, MISS HEIGHT MOVES WHEN SHE IS READY.
OF ALL OF HER ACCOMPLISHMENTS, I LIKE THINK OF ONE THAR
EXEMPLIFIES MISS HEIGHT'S GREAT RESOLVE. AND WHILE I MAY NOT HAVE
ALLMY FACTS EXACTLY RIGHT -- YOU'LL GET THE PICTURE.
MISS HEIGHT FOUGHT LONG AND HARD TO AGAIN APPROVAL FOR A STATURE OF
MARY MCLEOD BETHUNE IN LINCOLN PARK, IN WASHINGTON D.C. -- AN IMAGE
OF GREAT POWER, GRACE AND JOY.
IT WAS THE FIRST MONUMENT TO AN AFRICAN AMERICAN IN OUR NATION'S
CAPITOL. ACROSS THE PARK A STATUE OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN STOOD WITH
HIS BACK TO MRS. BETHUNE. TO MISS HEIGHT IT WAS OBVIOUS- IT HAD TO
BE TURNED AROUND. MR LINCOLN MUST NOT HAVE HIS BACK TO MRS.
@PJL RDYMSG DISPLAY = 1111
@PJL RDYMSG DISPLAY = "WordPerfect Job"
@PJL SET RESOLUTION = 600
@PJL ENTER LANGUAGE = PCL
Foll
Uwo this beffer in can on W/MAD BillBank
I NEED TO STATE THE OBVIOUS. 1ANGUAGE FALLS SHORT WHEN IT IS
TASKED TO CONVEY ALL THAT MISS HEIGHT HAS GIVEN US. WHO CAN SIZE
HER PLACE IN HISTORY OR PAY FAIR TRIBUTE TO HER SPIRIT AND
ACCOMPLISHMENT.
SHE WALKS AMONG US WITH SUCH GRACE AND CHARACTER AND CREATIVE FORCE
SHE POSSESSES SUCH A GIFT FOR SEEING WHAT IS POSSIBLE. SHE TAKES
SUCH CARE TO GET THINGS RIGHT, AND ONCE SHE IS FULLY PREPARED,
SHE ACTS.
DOROTHY HEIGHT GREW UP IN THE SMALL MINING TOWN OF RANKIN
PENNSYLVANIA. LIKE HER MOTHER SHE WAS ALWAYS ACTIVE IN CHURCH
GROUPS AND CLUBS. SHE WAS AND IS, SMART, BEAUTIFUL AND TALL --
2
Williams
SHE PLAYED CENTER ON HER HIGH SCHOOL BASKET BALL TEAM.
SHE WAS ACTIVE IN THE YWCA AND LED THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE FEERA-
TION OF GIRLS CLUBS WHEN SHE WAS FOURTEEN. FROM THE VERY
BEGINNING SHE WAS BUSY ORGANIZING.
AS A YOUNG WOMAN SHE WENT TO OXFORD ENGLAND REPRESENTING THE UNITED
CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT AT THE INTERNATIONAL CHURCH CONFERENCE.
THEN IT WAS ON TO AMSTERDAM AND THE WORLD CONFERENCE OF CHRISTIAN
YOUTH. LATER AS A MEMBER OF THE HARLEM YOUTH COUNCIL SHE
HELPED ELEANOR ROOSEVELT PLAN THE 1938 WORLD YOUTH COUNCIL.
AND PEOPLE BEGAN TO NOTICE HER. SHE WAS A WORLD CLASS STAR. SHE
WAS AND IS, AS MANY OF HER YOUNG ADMIRERS ARE FOND OF SAYING, "THE
HARDEST WORKING WOMAN IN SHOW BUSINESS." "
MISS HEIGHT THEN WENT TO WORK FOR THE YWCA, FIRST DIRECTING A
LODGING HOME FOR BLACK WOMEN. IN THAT POSITION, SHE SOON BECAME AN
ADVOCATE FOR BLACK WOMEN IN DOMESTIC SERVICE JOBS.
LATER SHE BECAME A STAFF MEMBER FOR THE NATIONAL YWCA BOARD AND
EVENTUALLY SERVED AS ITS INTERRACIAL EDUCATION SECRETARY.
3
DURING THIS PERIOD MISS HEIGHT WAS ACTIVE IN THE DELTA SIGMA THETA
SORORITY AND THEN AS PRESIDENT OF THAT ORGANIZATION, SOUGHT TO
BUILD A BRIDGE BETWEEN AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN AND WOMEN IN THIRD
WORLD COUNTRIES. MISS HEIGHT CAN BE CREDITED WITH THE CREATION OF
INTERNATIONAL DELTA CHAPTERS. AND THE DELTAS UNDER MISS HEIGHT'S
LEADERSHIP ESTABLISHED ONE OF THE FIRST HAITIAN RELIEF FUNDS.
IN 1957 MISS HEIGH BECAME PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF
NEGRO WOMEN. MISS HEIGHT HAD FIRST MET HER NCNW PREDECESSOR AND
MENTOR , MARY MCLEOD BETHUNE TWENTY YEARS EARLIER.
MISS HEIGHT RECALLED THAT FIRST MEETING IN AN INTERVIEW WITH
ESSENCE MAGAZINE, "I HAD NEVER MET A PERSON WHO USED HER OWN
PERSONAL POWER FOR OTHERS LIKE MY MENTOR, MARY MCLEOD BETHUNE.
THE DAY I MET MRS. BETHUNE WAS NOVEMBER 7, 1937. I WAS WORKING FOR
THE PHILLIS WHEATLEY YWCA IN NEW YORK AND MRS BETHUNE WAS HAVING A
MEETING OF THE MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF NEGRO WOMEN. I
HAD SEEN HER AND HEARD HER BUT NEVER HAD ANY DIRECT CONTACT WITH
HER. MRS. ROOSEVELT WAS SCHEDULED TO SPEAK AT THE MEETING. I WAS
ASSIGNED TO MEET HER AT THE DOOR. SHE CAME THROUGH THE SERVICE
ENTRANCE AND I RAN AROUND TO GET HER. SHE MADE HER SPEECH, AND ALL
THE WOMEN SANG ONE OF MRS. BETHUNE'S FAVORITE SONG, 'LET ME CALL
YOU SWEET HEART'. AS I WAS ABOUT TO LEAVE, MRS. BETHUNE STOPPED ME
AND ASKED ME MY NAME AND SAID, 'COME BACK WE NEED YOU.' I KNEW
MRS. BETHUNE FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE.
AS PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF NEGRO WOMEN, MISS HEIGHT
QUICKLY BECAME A LEADER IN THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT. THE NCNW
HELD VOTER EDUCATION AND REGISTRATION DRIVES AND RAISED MONEY TO
SUPPORT THE YOUNG PEOPLE WHO WERE ACTIVE IN THE STUDENT NONVIOLENT
COORDINATING COMMITTEE.
OVER THE PAST THIRTY YEARS THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF NEGRO WOMEN HAS
REMAINED VITAL AND CREATIVE GUARANTEEING ITS SUPPORT AND ADVOCACY
FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN HER AND ALL OVER THE WORLD. MOST
RECENTLY MISS HEIGHT AND THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF NEGRO WOMEN HAVE
SPEARED HEADED A NATIONAL CHALLENGE TO THE MEDIA'S DISTORTION OF
BLACK FAMILY LIFE BY SPONSORING ANNAUL CELEBRATIONS - BLACK FAMILY
REUNIONS.
PRESIDENT CLINTO RECENTLY AWARDED MISS HEIGHT THE PRESIDENTIAL
MEDAL OF FREEDOM FOR HER SERVICE TO COUNTRY AND COMMUNITY.
TO NIGHT I HAVE TOLD YOU VERY LITTLE ABOUT DOROTHY IRENE HEIGHT.
IT IS HARD TO CONSIDER ALL SHE HAS DONE, AND ALL SHE WILL DO, AND
STILL THINK OF HER AS ONE OF US MERE MORTALS.
TO THOSE WHO THRIVE IN HER WAKE, MISS HEIGHT IS A PERSON OF REGAL
STATURE. TO ME, IN THE ANCIENT SENSE, SHE IS INDEED A QUEEN.
THE OLD TESTAMENT STORY OF ESTER HAS ALWAYS BEEN A KIND OF
PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR ME. A HANDBOOK OF ACTION, WHERE PRAYING AND
5
PLANNING AND DEVELOPING A STRATEGY ACTUALLY PAYS OFF. EVEN WHEN
THE STAKES ARE HIGH. EVEN WHEN THE MISSION IS RISKY. EVEN WHEN
THE CRITICS ARE MANY.
WHEN I READ ESTHER'S STORY I THINK OF MISS HEIGHT.
MADE A QUEEN BY KING XERXES BECAUSE HER BEAUTY AND CHARACTER HAD
WON HIS HEART, ESTHER RISKS HER LIFE BY REVEALING HERSELF TO BE A
JEW AND GOING BEFORE THE KING TO ASK THAT HE WITHDRAW HIS ORDER TO
KILL ALL THOSE OF JEWISH BIRTH.
SHE BOLDLY SAVES HER PEOPLE BUT ESTHER'S BRAVERY IS SUPPLEMENTED
BY COOL CALCULATION. SHE KNOWS THAT COURAGE COUPLED WITH VISION AND
AND AN IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY IS BOUND TO BE SUCESSFUL. AND SHE'S
GOT POSITION, A FORUM, A PLATFORM -- AFTER ALL SHE IS THE QUEEN.
ESTHER KNOWS THE COST OF HER ACTION -- HER LIFE IS AT STAKE. SHE
SETS PRIORITIES AND PLACES THE INTERESTS OF OTHERS ABOVE HER OWN
AND THEN MOVES BOLDLY FORTH.
ESTHER COULD HAVE RISKED LITTLE AND SAVED HER OWN LIFE AND THAT OF
MORDECAI HER STEPFATHER. INSTEAD SHE UNDERSTOOD THAT HER LIFE HAD
A FIXED PURPOSE. ESTHER TRAVELLED TO THE PALACE FOR A REASON. GOD
HAD PLACED ESTHER IN HER POSITION "FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS".
LIKE ESTHER MISS HEIGHT KNOWS HOW TO USE POSITION. LIKE ESTHER
6
BETHUNE.
NOT ERRECTING A SCULPTURE OF AN AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMAN WAS ONE
THING, BUT UPROOTING MR. LINCOLN AND REVERSING HIS FIELD OF VIEW
WAS QUITE ANOTHER. BUT MISS HEIGHT GATHERED HER PEOPLE, SET HER
NETWORK IN ACTION, PRAYED, EXPLAINED, ARGUED, CAJOLED AND
PERSERVERED WITH ONE FIXED GOAL IN MIND.
NO MATTER HOW MANY MEN OF POWER CITED PRECEDENTS OR PRACTICALITY
NO MATTER HOW MANY CITY PLANNERS ARGUED ASTHETICS, MISS HEIGHT
PATIENTLY STOOD BY WHAT SHE KNEW WAS RIGHT. FOR PUBLIC SCULPTURE
IS A SYMBOL AND DELIVERS A MESSAGE TO ALL WHO VIEW IT.
TODAY IN LINCOLN PARK, ITS NAMESAKE GAZES WITH RESPECT AT MARY
MCLEOD BETHUNE.
TONIGHT WE HONOR A WOMAN WHO TURNS STATUES AROUND. THERE ARE so
MANY OF US WHO HONOR YOU TONIGHT BECAUSE YOU TAUGHT US TO DO OR
our
HOMEWORK. YOU HAVE OUR COMMITMENT THAT WE WILL WORK WITH YOU ON
ALL THAT IS LEFT TO DO FOR OUR CHILDREN, OUR COMMUNITIES AND OUR
COUNTRY.
AND CHALLENGED BY YOUR EXAMPLE, WE WILL REMEMBER TO USE OUR LIVES,
TO BUILD, ENRICH AND DO FOR OTHERS "FOR WHO KNOWTH IF WE ART COME
TO THIS KINGDOM FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS.
6
MISS HEIGHT SEIZES THE OPPORTUNE MOEMNT-- AND CREATES, CREATES THE
MOMENT IF IT DOES NOT EXIST. MAKING A WAY OUT OF NO WAY.
LIKE ESTHER, MISS HEIGHT BRINGS PEOPLE TOGETHER TO TALK AND PLAN
AND PRAY. AND LIKE ESTHER, MISS HEIGHT MOVES WHEN SHE IS READY.
OF ALL OF HER ACCOMPLISHMENTS, I THINK OF ONE THAT EXEMPLIFIES
MISS HEIGHT'S GREAT RESOLVE. AND WHILE I MAY NOT HAVE ALLMY FACTS
EXACTLY RIGHT -- YOU'LL GET THE PICTURE.
MISS HEIGHT FOUGHT LONG AND HARD TO GAIN APPROVAL FOR A STATURE OF
MARY MCLEOD BETHUNE IN LINCOLN PARK, IN WASHINGTON D.C. -- AN IMAGE
OF GREAT POWER, GRACE AND JOY.
IT WAS THE FIRST MONUMENT TO AN AFRICAN AMERICAN IN OUR NATION'S
CAPITOL. ACROSS THE PARK A STATUE OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN STOOD WITH
HIS BACK TO MRS. BETHUNE. TO MISS HEIGHT IT WAS OBVIOUS IT HAD TO
BE TURNED AROUND. MR LINCOLN MUST NOT HAVE HIS BACK TO MRS.
BETHUNE.
NOT ERRECTING A SCULPTURE OF AN AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMAN WAS ONE
THING, BUT UPROOTING MR. LINCOLN AND REVERSING HIS FIELD OF VIEW
WAS QUITE ANOTHER. BUT MISS HEIGHT GATHERED HER PEOPLE, SET HER
NETWORK IN ACTION, PRAYED, EXPLAINED, ARGUED, CAJOLED AND
PERSERVERED WITH ONE FIXED GOAL IN MIND.
NO MATTER HOW MANY MEN OF POWER CITED PRECEDENTS OR PRACTICALITY
7
NO MATTER HOW MANY CITY PLANNER ARGUED ASTHETICS, MISS HEIGHT
PATIENTLY STOOD BY WHAT SHE KNEW WAS RIGHT. FOR PUBLIC SCULPTURE
IS A SYMBOL AND DELIVERS A MESSAGE TO ALL WHO VIEW IT.
TODAY IN LINCOLN PARK, ITS NAMESAKE GAZES WITH RESPECT AT MARY
MCLEOD BETHUNE.
TONIGHT WE HONOR A WOMAN WHO TURNS STATUES AROUND. THERE ARE so
MANY OF US WHO HONOR YOU TONIGHT BECAUSE YOU TAUGHT US TO DO OUR
HOMEWORK. YOU HAVE OUR COMMITMENT THAT WE WILL WORK WITH YOU ON
ALL THAT IS LEFT TO DO FOR OUR CHILDREN, OUR COMMUNITIES AND OUR
COUNTRY.
AND CHALLENGED BY YOUR EXAMPLE, WE WILL REMEMBER TO USE OUR LIVES,
TO BUILD, ENRICH AND DO FOR OTHERS "FOR WHO KNOWTH IF WE ART COME
TO THIS KINGDOM FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS.
Confidence hom the X Rospond
Not
4/23/98
CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND/BLACK COMMUNITY CRUSADE FOR CHILDREN
Thanksgiving and Homecoming Celebration
Former Alex Haley Farm, Norris, Tennessee
September 23 - - 25, 1994
TIME SCRIPT/PRODUCTION SCHEDULE
Friday, September, 23, 1994
PN: PIANO DELIVERED
12:00p
EAV ARRIVAL
2:00p
ODETTA SOUND CHECK
2:30p (CONFIRM POSITION AND
(ONILVSS
INTERFAITH LEADERS BRIEFING 3:30p
Opening Ceremony of Welcome
PN: SHERRI TO RING BELL
PN: CHOIRS SEATED UP FRONT
3:55p - 4:00p Call to order with bell ringing followed by music
by H.Q. Thompson
4:00p - 4:05p Statement of Mission by MWE
4:05p - 4:08p Song: Amazing Grace
4:08p - 4:09p MWE introduction of George Haley
4:10p - 4:13p George Haley welcome
4:13p - 4:14p MWE introduction of Charles Burson
4:15p - 4:18p Tennessee Attorney General Charles W. Burson
welcome
4:19p - 4:20p MWE introduction of Bill Purcell
4:21p - 4:24p House Majority Leader Bill Purcell welcome
4:25p - 4:28p MWE introduction of Mary Sasser
4:28p - 4:31p Mary Sasser welcome
4:32p - 4:34p MWE acknowledges Haley family and Haley farm staff
before announcing interfaith service, followed by
dinner in the food tent, and rest room locations.
PN: TEN CHAIRS ADDED TO THE STAGE, SIGNAL TO SHANNON TO BEGIN
PROCESSIONAL
4:35p - 5:30p Interfaith Service
PN: SHERRI TO HANDLE WIRELESS MIKES FOR PARTICIPANTS.
1. CHILDREN WITH SPEAKING ROLES
2. CANDY CAROWAN FOR ONE MAN HANDS
3. POSSIBLE FOR H.Q.'S SOLOIST
STOOL AND MIKES FOR GUY AND CANDIE CAROWAN TO THE LEFT OF THE
STAGE.
5:30p - 7:30p Dinner
PN: BREAK DOWN CHOIR CHAIRS AFTER SERVICE. STORE BEHIND STAGE.
SET TABLE AND CHAIRS FOR EVENING SESSION
ARRANGE ODETTA'S SEATING AND MIKE POSITION
7:30p - 7:55p Break
7:55p
Call to order with bell ringing
PN: SHERRI TO RING BELL
8:00p - 8:02p Marylin Levitt to introduce Odetta for a
Celebration of our Children's Musical Heritage
8:02p - 8:30p Odetta Performance
8:30p - 8:32p Marylin Levitt to introduce David Lewis
8:32p - 8:42p David Lewis to honor John Hope Franklin
8:42p - 8:57p John Hope Franklin speech
8:57p - 8:59p Marylin Levitt to introduce Maggie Williams
9:00p - 9:10p Maggie to honor Dorothy Height
9:10p - 9:25p Dorothy Height speech
9:25p - 9:30p Marylin Levitt will thank participants and guests
and remind everyone participating in the working
meetings on Saturdays that breakfast is on your own
and we'll be convene at 8:55a.
Musical selection H.Q. Thompson
PN: SOLOIST NEEDS WIRELESS MIKE
PRE-PRODUCTION FOR SATURDAY
BREAKDOWN OF EXTRA TABLES AND CHAIRS IN FOOD TENT. REMOVE DIRTY
LINENS (KIM TO CONFIRM #'8 FOR SATURDAY SET UP)
REMOVE CHOIR RISERS, TWO PRESS RISERS, EXTRA CHAIRS, AND PRESS TENT
MOVE PIANO FROM PROGRAM TENT TO FOOD TENT
ADD TWO RECTANGULAR TABLES ON EITHER SIDE OR TO THE SIDE OF PODIUM
IN PROGRAM TENT. (CONFIRM ARRANGEMENT WITH AGB)
EAV TO ADD 5 TABLE MIKES TO PROGRAM TENT
Copyright 1993 The Atlanta Constitution
The Atlanta Journal and Constitution
August 12, 1993
SECTION: EXTRA; Section N; Page 11
LENGTH: 357 words
HEADLINE: Reunion grew out founder's focus on race, women
BYLINE: By Charmagne Helton STAFF WRITER
BODY:
All her life, Dorothy Height has championed the rights of blacks and women in
America.
In the late 1960s, she supported striking black female hospital workers in
Charleston.
In the 1970s, along with Fannie Lou Hamer and Shirley Chisholm, she fought to
mobilize the women's rights movement in Washington.
In the 1980s, she created the Black Family Reunion to combat negative media
stereotypes of African Americans.
And the reunion, her legacy, convened for the seventh time in Atlanta last week as
Dr. Height, now 81, continues her lifelong crusade.
For 36 years, Dr. Height has been president of the National Council of Negro
Women (NCNW), the organization she used to start the Black Family Reunion.
After watching a 1986 television documentary titled "The Vanishing Family - Crisis
in Black America," she decided the NCNW had to do something to uplift the
African-American family.
"It's not just what [the documentary] said to others, but what it said to us and our
children," Dr. Height said last week. She was tired of seeing the negative portrayal of
black Americans in media, she said.
With the help of Procter & Gamble, the NCNW conducted the first Black Family
Reunion in Washington in 1986 to celebrate the culture and strength of African
Americans. Since then the weekend-long event has spread to Chicago, Los Angeles,
Cincinnati, Memphis, Philadelphia and Atlanta.
More than 50,000 people took part last weekend in the free health screenings,
international marketplace, breakfast, church services and gospel concert at Atlanta's
Seventh Annual Black Family Reunion.
Dr. Height began her career in 1934 as a caseworker in the New York City Welfare
Department, where she encountered families and their problems firsthand.
She moved into the directorship of the Racial Justice Center of the Young Women's
Christian Association in the 1950s and at the same time served on the
New York State Social Welfare Board and on the Advisory Committee on Women in
the Services for the U.S. Department of Defense.
In 1957 she accepted the NCNW presidency, the post in which she first envisioned
the Black Family Reunion.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE-MDC August 21, 1993
Copyright 1993 SOFTLINE INFORMATION, INC.
The Ethnic NewsWatch
Washington Afro-American
November 6, 1993
SECTION: Vol. 102; No. 13; Pg. A3
LENGTH: 554 words
HEADLINE: Dr. Height re-elected at NCNW conventión
BYLINE: Wright, James
BODY:
Dr. Height re-elected at NCNW convention.
Dr. Dorothy Height, 81, was reelected to another two-year term as president of the
National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) at the 46th Annual National Convention
held in Washington, D.C. last week. Dr. Height said she was elated by her reelection.
"We convene at a time of great challenge and unprecedented opportunity," said Dr.
Height, who heads the organization of four million members. "Today, there is a
renewed spirit and recognition of what we can accomplish when we work together.
We gather with a determination to use our collective power to help create the kind of
future that our families deserve."
The organization was founded in 1935 by the late Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, the
founder and long time president of Bethune Cookman College. Dr. Height, who ran
unopposed, has served as president since the late 1950's.
The NCNW is a non profit voluntary service organization with 34 national
affiliated constituency based groups and 250 community based sections.
Clinton administration officials such as Dr. Joycelyn Elders, Commerce Secretary
Ronald Brown, presidential advisor Vernon Jordan, and First Lady Hillary Rodham
Clinton were among the speakers.
Alexis Herman, Assistant to the President and director of the Office of Public
Liaison, was honored at the closing banquet for her achievements while serving as
chair of the 1992 Democratic convention and her tenure as an official with the
Democratic party. Ms. Herman is a former officer with the NCNW.
D.C. Shadow Senator Jesse Jackson praised Ms. Herman along with Mr. Jordan and
Mr. Brown.
Select members of the organization were invited to a White House briefing.
"Mary McLeod Bethune would have never dreamed of the day that this
organization would have cabinet officials and presidential advisors come to us," said
Dr. Height, who was a protege of Mrs. Bethune. "She would have been proud."
D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton moderated a panel of her colleagues. Billed
as the "Town Meeting With the Women of Congress", the lawmakers told the
overflow crowd that Black women can no longer be ignored.
"Let everyone know that the ten Black women in Congress wield power and you
ain't seen nothing yet," said Cong. Carrie Meek (D-Fla.), who at 66 is the oldest
freshman in Congress.
The other congresswomen who participated were Cardiss Collins of Illinois, who
has the most seniority; Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Corrine Brown of Florida,
and Babara Rose Collins of Michigan.
"We've come from cleaning the White House to working in it."
The congresswomen told the gathering that they should get political active whether
they run for office or not.
Mrs. Clinton told a plenary session that Black input into the health care reform was
useful. She received questions ranging from whether children will be covered to the
problems of mammograms and pap smears.
The Chi Eta Phi Sorority Inc. (Washington D.C. chapter) won first place and a
check for $1,000, for its community project, "Child Care Center, Our First Love". The
center is a transitional home for abandoned babies born to drug addicted mothers.
The Alpha Zeta Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. won third place with its
anti-substance abuse program. They received a $250 check.
The awards were given at the final banquet.
ETHNIC-GROUP: African-American
LANGUAGE: English
LOAD-DATE-MDC February 22, 1994
of
class star. She was and is, as many of her admirers are fond of
saying, "the hardest working woman in show business."
Miss lodging Height home then for went black to womenhome work for In for the this accepted YWCA position / first a position directing She tion soon with became a the
VWCA advocate for blackwomen UN domestic servicejobs
Tonight I have told you very little about Dorothy Irene Height.
It is hard to consider all she has done, and all she will
do, and still think of her as one of us mere mortals.
To those who thrive in her wake, Miss Height is a person of
regal stature. To me, in the ancient sense, she is indeed a
queen.
Even when the stakes are hight
The Old Testament story of Esther has always been a kind of
practical guide for me. A handbook of action, where praying and
planning and developing a strategy actually pays off. Even when
the mission is risky. Even when the critics are many.
When & read Esther & story I cald think of Miss Aeightory
From the day I met Miss Height I can never read Esther without
thinking of her.
Made a queen by King Xerxes because her beauty and character had
won his heart, Esther risks her life by revealing herself to be a
Jew and going before the king to ask that he withdraw his order
to kill all those of Jewish birth. She boldly saves her people,
3
but Esther's bravery is cool and calculated. She knows that
courage does not supplant careful planning. coupled with vision
and unnmplementahonsfrolegy.
Esther calculates the cost of action, and finds her life is at
stake. She sets priorities, placing the lives of others above
her own safety. She carefully sets a course of action then moves
boldly forth.
Fisther elled oade palace a
the
to
for Reason
Esther could have risked very little and saved her life and that
of Mordecai, her stepfather. Instead, she and Mordecai saw that
God had placed them where they were for a purpose--that it was
sane a people
within their reach to 20 for others. God had placed Esther in
her position "for such a time as this."
Miss Height does not ask God to fix things for her or her people.
She gets in a position and she uses it. Like Esther, she knows
how to use the positive. Like Esther, Miss Height brings gathers her
position
people together to talk and plan and pray. And like Esther, Miss
Height moves when she knows she is ready. "If I perish, I
perish
for who knoweth if thou art come to the kingdom for such
and moment X
a time as this."
word & RR toma
of all her accomplishments, I like to think of one that may be
lesser known as exemplifying Miss Height and her great resolve.
She fought long and hard to gain approval for a statue of Mrs.
Bethune in Lincoln Park, in Washington--an image of great power,
&
grace and joy, with the figure of Mrs. Bethune holding the hands
of children. It was the first monument to an African American in
our nation's capital. But after its unvelling, Miss Height
noticed that across the park a statue of President Lincoln stood
with his back to Mrs. Bethune. To Miss Height it was obvious--it
had to be turned around. Now erecting a sculpture of a black
woman was one thing, but uprooting Mr. Lincoln and reversing his
field of view was quite another. But Miss Height gathered her
people, set her network in action, prayed, explained, argued,
cajoled and persevered with one fixed goal in mind. No matter
men of power
how many At fathers cited precedents or practicality, no matter
how many city planners argued aesthetics, Miss Height patiently
stood by what she knew was right, for public sculpture is a
symbol and a message to our young. and today in Lincoln Park,
its namesake gazes with respect at Mary McLeod Bethune.
Remembering her mentor, Miss Height once said, "Next to my own
mother, Mrs. Bethune had the greatest impact on me I learned
from her that you have to your homework. You just don't jump off
on things."
not only effects statutes but them turns around
Tonight we honor a woman who turns statues around.
Miss Height, in large part we are here tonight because you taught
us to do our homework. To praise you, we will work with you on
all that is left to do. To honor you, we will learn from your
works and heed your voice, and use the positions we earn to help
people. And inspired challenged by you, we each will ask, as Esther asked
by your rample we only each should
challenge ourselves and futing to use position not for Relsonal
as our history demands to build enrich and do for others
5
SO long ago, "How can I endure to see the evil the shall come
unto my people, or how can I endure to see the destruction of my
for kindred. who " knowth if thou art come to the Kengdom
for such atime as this.
Remarks in Tribute to Dorothy Height
by
Margaret A. Williams,
Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff
to the First Lady,
The Haley Farm
September 23, 1994
I have searched and prayed for adequate words to say about Miss
Height. And I must tell you that it is impossible to find words
that convey all she has given us, that can size up her place in
history or pay fair tribute to her spirit and accomplishment.
In fact, the best I've found are words that Dorothy Height herself
used to describe the individual who most inspired her. Miss Height
said, "I never met a person who used her own personal power for
others like my mentor, Mary McLeod Bethune." In fact, however, our
country has been blessed with two African American women who fit
that description, and Miss Height is the second one.
She walks among us with such beauty and character and creative
force-she possesses such a gift for seeing what is possible and
teaching what is just--she takes-such care to get things right, and
once she is fully prepared risks her life for us - that it
is hard to consider all she has done, and all she will do, and
still think of Miss Height as one of us mere mortals. To those who
thrive in her wake and wage our own struggle with the rights she
has won for us, Miss Height is simply a person of regal stature.
To me, in the ancient sense, she is a queen.
-2-
The Book of Esther always has been a guide for me, and I never read
Esther's story without thinking of Miss Height. Made a queen by
King Xerxes because her beauty and character had won his heart,
Esther risks her life by revealing herself to be a Jew and going
before the king to ask that he withdraw his order to kill all those
of Jewish birth. She boldly saves her people, but Esther's bravery
is never rash. She knows that courage does not supplant careful
planning. She calculates the cost of action, and finds her life is
at stake. She sets priorities, placing the lives of others above
her own safety. She carefully sets a course of action then moves
boldly forth. Esther could have risked very little and saved her
life and that of Mordecai, her stepfather. Instead, she and
Mordecai saw that God had placed them where they were for a
purpose-that it was within their reach to save others. They
didn't ask God to fix things. They asked Him for direction and
they acted.
Miss Height does not ask God to fix things for her or her people.
She gets in a position and she uses it. Like Esther, she knows how
to use the positive. Like Esther, Miss Height gathers her people
together to talk and plan and pray. And like Esther, Miss Height
moves when she knows she is ready, saying, "If I perish, I
perish
for who knoweth if thou art come to the kingdom for such
a time as this. "
Of all her accomplishments, there is one that may be lesser known
which I think exemplifies Miss Height and her great 5 resolve. She
-3-
fought long and hard to gain approval for a statue of Mrs. Bethune
in Lincoln Park, in Washington--an image of great power, grace and
joy, with the figure of Mrs. Bethune holding the hands of children.
It was the first monument to an African American in our nation's
capital. But after its unveiling, Miss Height noticed that across
the park a statue of President Lincoln stood with his back to Mrs.
Bethune. To Miss Height it was obvious-- it had to be turned
around. Now erecting a sculpture of a black woman was one thing,
but uprooting Mr. Lincoln and reversing his field of view was quite
another. But Miss Height gathered her people, set her network in
action, prayed, explained, argued, cajoled and persevered with one
fixed goal in mind. No matter how many city fathers cited
precedents or practicality, no matter how many city planners argued
aesthetics, Miss Height patiently stood by what she knew was right,
for public sculpture is a symbol and a message to our young. And
today in Lincoln Park, its namesake gazes with respect at Mary
McLeod Bethune.
Remembering her mentor, Miss Height once said, "Next to my own
mother, Mrs. Bethune had the greatest impact on me. I learned from
her that you have to do your homework. You just don't jump off on
things."
Miss Height, in large part we are here tonight because you taught
us to do our homework. To praise you, we will work with you on all
-4- -
that is left to do. To honor you, we will learn from your works
and heed your voice, and use the positions we earn to help people.
And inspired by you, we each will ask, as Esther asked so long ago,
"How can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people,
or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred."
Copyright 1994 The Columbus Dispatch
The Columbus Dispatch
July 31, 1994, SUNDAY
SECTION: NEWS LOCAL & NATIONAL, Pg. 7C
LENGTH: 367 words
HEADLINE: BLACK FAMILY REUNION IS GETTING BIGGER EACH YEAR
DATELINE: CINCINNATI
BODY:
The founder of a 1986 event to promote the unity of black families has seen it grow
into an annual observance in seven U.S. cities.
Dorothy Height, 82, is single and childless. But she used her influence as president
of the National Council of Negro Women for 25 years to get the Black Family
Reunion started in 1986.
A decade ago, while watching a television documentary on the ills plaguing poor
black people, Height decided that she must do something to promote and bolster the
family unit.
"We're not a problem people - we're just people with problems," she said. "No one
else can retrieve our values and salvage our people better than we can."
The Cincinnati version of her event takes place Aug. 19-21 at Bicentennial
Commons at Sawyer Point and at the Albert B. Sabin Cincinnati Convention Center.
More than 300,000 participants were expected from Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana,
Michigan and Illinois.
Although created as a cultural festival for blacks, the festival welcomes people of
all racial and ethnic backgrounds.
Height, who was just selected by President Clinton to receive the Presidential
Medal of Freedom, plans to attend the Cincinnati reunion and speak during the
breakfast Aug. 19.
The Black Family Reunion, which she launched in Washington, has grown each
year. It has attracted more than 11 million people and major underwriting from
Procter & Gamble, based in Cincinnati.
The Cincinnati- event will combine everything from free medical testing to ethnic
cuisine, inspirational speeches and big-name entertainment.
Recording artist Raven-Symone, of The Cosby Show and Hangin' With Mr. Cooper
will perform, as will gospel star Dorothy Norwood.
Height's career as a civil-rights leader has won her more than 20 honorary degrees
and human-rights honors.
She began working in the 1930s in the New York City welfare department. Then
she moved to the Harlem branch of the YWCA, filling various executive positions.
She worked with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Roy Wilkins, Whitney Young, A.
Philip Randolph and others, participating in civil-rights events in the 1950s and
1960s.
She joined the National Council of Negro Women as its president in 1958.
LOAD-DATE-MDC: August 1, 1994
Copyright 1992 Globe Newspaper Company
The Boston Globe
September 13, 1992, Sunday, City Edition
SECTION: NATIONAL/FOREIGN; Pg. 18
LENGTH: 641 words
HEADLINE: After some twists and turns, Clinton, Jackson paths meet; CAMPAIGN
'92
BYLINE: By Michael K. Frisby, Globe Staff
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
BODY:
Gov. Bill Clinton hastily rearranged his schedule to appear at the Black Family
Reunion on the Mall here yesterday, a possible sign of a thaw in his frosty
relationship with Jesse Jackson.
The festival annually attracts more than a hundred thousand African-Americans for
a taste of their heritage: food, music, culture and family tradition. Clinton was not
originally scheduled to attend.
The tale of how he got to the stage with Jackson, Ronald Brown, the Democratic
Party chairman, and Dorothy Height, the president of the National Council of Negro
Women, delivers a revealing glimpse at the dynamics of his campaign.
But once on the stage, Clinton brought roses for Height, who was celebrating her
80th birthday. He lashed out at the Republicans, accusing them of using a "family
values" theme to divide the nation. Clinton said that he wants to create "partnerships"
instead, to bring the country together.
Later, Clinton introduced Jackson to the crowd, telling them Jackson wouldlead
the party's voter registration drive. Jackson, in turn, gave Clinton a "Rebuild
America" T-shirt.
In an interview, Jackson said it was important for Clinton to attend the event and
that it could be a sign that the campaign may be changing its strategy of not always
openly courting blacks, while wooing middle-class whites.
He said the campaign seems "to be moving towards a unified, big tent strategy
It's a healthy sign. He is participating in the registering of voters, black and white.
That is essential to the message of
rebuilding relationships. If that continues and
the anxiety and alienation that people feel will be overcome if this is the new strategy
of the campaign."
But in Little Rock, Ark., last week, a Civil War of sorts was fought inside the
Clinton campaign headquarters, with blacks and more liberal whites on one side and
mostly conservative whites on the other. The problem for some, sources said, was
that attending would put Clinton on stage with Jackson, whom the campaign has
kept at a distance.
From accounts of organizers of the event in Washington and campaign sources in
Little Rock, a routine meeting at Clinton headquarters turned heated when the event
was proposed, and then supported, by the campaign's scheduling director, Susan
Thomases.
Mickey Kantor, the campaign's chairman, is said to have opposed her view and
made a decision that Clinton would not attend. According to accounts from those
who were there, Kantor told the group that he went to the event last year and was
not impressed with the crowd. He said the campaign would follow its planned
course and go to the Mason District Crab Feast in the Washington suburb of Falls
Church.
After Kantor's intervention, staff supporters of the event fought back,saying they
felt Kantor had misrepresented the event. They were said to be appalled that
thousands of blacks would be passed up in favor of an event that Falls Church
officials said attracted 500 people last year.
But as late as Friday morning, the event was still off.
Inside headquarters, the supporters, led by Jeff Watson, a deputy field director,
gathered clippings from articles around the nation describing the event in years past
as attracting crowds up to 300,000. He took the material. to Thomases.
Sources said Thomases mentioned the problem to her friend, Hilary
Clinton, Hillary Clinton, who is a friend of Height, whose group sponsored the event,
is said to have talked to her husband. And Friday night, Kantor was overruled.
Yesterday morning as reporters boarded the plane in Little Rock, AvisLaVelle, a
campaign press secretary, said the campaign decided to attend "because it represents
a focus we believe is important. It's on our message of reinforcing family and a
strong sense of community. And we are very impressed with Dorothy Height."
GRAPHIC: PHOTO, AP PHOTO / Gov. Bill Clinton fits in a morning jog in Little
Rock, Ark., yesterday before leaving for a day of campaign engagements in
Washington.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
Copyright 1993 National Public Radio
NPR
SHOW: ALL THINGS CONSIDERED
May 7, 1993, Friday
LENGTH: 745 words
HEADLINE: "The Black Family Reunion Cookbook' Discussed
BODY:
LINDA WERTHEIMER Host: The Black Family Reunion Cookbook celebrates
cooking, culture and the moments of sharing them. It was assembled by the National
Council of Negro Women, an organization founded by educator Mary McLeod
Bethune and it includes some of her favorite dishes. Dorothy Height is the president
of the organization and in the introduction, she says that 'In gathering these recipes,
contributors have embarked on something that goes beyond the preparation of food.'
DOROTHY HEIGHT, President, National Council of Negro Women: When people
break bread together, there's a chance that they come to bonding and we think that if
we could only realize the number of values in family life that get expressed, really,
around a meal or if you think about it, there are more decisions made over food than
around conference tables.
WERTHEIMER: Dr. Height, I noticed in this collection of recipes that roughly
speaking there are a dozen different recipes for biscuits. There are crackling biscuits
and sweet potato biscuits and coconut biscuits here and a story. In the margins of
the book, there are accounts, 'food memories,¹ you call them. There's an account
which you've provided for the book about Mary McLeod Bethune and her biscuits.
Dr. HEIGHT: Mrs. Bethune was really a very remarkable person and she told the
story of once during the days of segregation and she was riding on a train. The
conductor came to her and he said, 'Auntie, do you make good biscuits?" And she
said to him, Tm an adviser to the president of the United States, Franklin Delano
Roosevelt. I am the founder of a four-year accredited college, the Bethune-Cookman
College in Daytona Beach, Florida. I am the founder of the National Council of
Negro Women and I make good biscuits.' And I think her sense of humor and her
capacity for really showing that making good biscuits was as important as anything
else.
WERTHEIMER: You also mention in the book that this collection of recipes
acknowledges the African diaspora.
Dr. HEIGHT: Yes and historically, okra, collard greens, those are things that it is said
our ancestors brought to this country and some of the recipes that are in there that
combine things like peanuts with either a vegetable or peanuts with chicken, those
combinations are from our African heritage and this is a cookbook that relates the
whole diaspora. It is not just those of us who are of African background who are in
the United States but those in the Caribbean. I think you'll find some recipes there
were drawn from the Caribbean.
WERTHEIMER: When you started putting together the book, could you look at those
800 recipes and tell something about the population that was contributing to it?
Dr. HEIGHT: Well, it showed something that I hadn't ever thought of before, it
showed a kind of pride. One of the favorite stories is from a young man who told
about how his mother used to make cookies and he thought he was stealing them,
and when he would take one, his mother would see him and she'd say, 'Here, take
another one, you may meet a friend along the way' - that people enjoyed telling their
stories. "This is what my mother said' or "This is how we did it' or 'How we cooked
our Sunday dinner.' And there was a kind of, what I would call, a dialogue that took
place around these recipes and I think one of the other beautiful things about this
book is that it has excerpts all the way through of Mary McLeod Bethune's last will
and testament because we want to keep the sense that this is a black family reunion
cookbook and that the sharing of some of the favorite recipes and things that many
people, for the first time, wrote down, is what I think also makes it as valuable as the
fact that we have the food memories.
WERTHEIMER: Thank you very much. Dr. Dorothy Height is president and chief
executive officer of the National Council of Negro Women. The book is called The
Black Family Reunion Cookbook: Recipes and Food Memories.
[The preceding text has been professionally transcribed. However, in order to meet
rigid distribution and transmission deadlines, it has not been proofread against audio
tape and cannot, for that reason, be guaranteed as to the accuracy of speakers' words
or spelling.]
THE PRECEDING TEXT HAS BEEN PROFESSIONALLY TRANSCRIBED. IT HAS
NOT YET, HOWEVER, BEEN PROOFREAD AGAINST AUDIOTAPE AND MAY
CONTAIN ERRORS.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE-MDC: May 9, 1993
Copyright 1993 SOFTLINE INFORMATION, INC.
The Ethnic NewsWatch
Columbus Times
July 13, 1993
SECTION: Vol. XXXV; No. 31; Pg. A1
LENGTH: 477 words
HEADLINE: NAACP Names Dr. Dorothy Height The 1993 Spingarn Winner
BODY:
NAACP Names Dr. Dorothy Height The 1993 Spingarn Winner.
Dr. Dorothy I. Height, president of the National Council of Negro Women
(NCNW) and one of the most venerated figures in civil and human rights
movements, has been selected as the 1993 recipient of the NAACP's most prestigious
awards -- the Spingarn Medal.
The announcement was made by Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, the NAACP's Executive
Director.
Instituted in 1914 by the late Mr. Joel E. Spingarn, then NAACP Chairman, the
medal is presented annually to the man or woman of African descent an American
citzenship who made the highest achievement during the preceding year or years in
any honorable field of human endeavor.
The selection of Dr. Height was made by the Spingarn Award Committee from a
list of nominees submitted by the public. The presentation will take place on
Thursday, July 15th, at the Freedom Fund/Spingarn Awards Dinner that concludes
the NAACP's Annual Convention in Indianapolis.
President of the NCNW since 1957, Dr. Height has played an extraordinarily
important role in the struggle of African-Americans, and has been an especially active
advocate for Black women and the Black family.
Working closely with Dr. Martin Luther King, Roy Wilkins, Whitney Young, A.
Phillip Randolph and others. Dr. Height participated in virtually all major civil and
human rights events in the 1960s.
For her tireless efforts on behalf of the less fortunate, President Ronald Regan
presented her the Citizens Medal Award for distinguished service in 1989, the year
she also received the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Freedom Medal by the Franklin and
Eleanor Roosevelt Institute.
Her awards also include the Essence Award, 1987, Stellar Award, 1990, Camille
Cosby World of Children Award, 1990; the Caring Award by the Caring Institute,
1989; the Olender Foundation's Generous Heart Award, 1990.
Dr. Height has received over 20 honorary degrees from such institutions as
Spelman College, Lincoln University (Pennsylvania), Central State University, and
Princeton.
Born in Richmond, Va., she earned the bachelor and master's degree from New
York University and did further postgraduate work at Columbia University and the
New York School of Social Research.
For many years, Dr. Height filled a dual role as a staff member of YWCA and a
volunteer at the NCNW. At the YMCA, she rose through several leadership positions,
to eventually become director of the Center for Racial Justice, a post she held until
1977 when she retired.
As the 78th recipient of the prestigious medal, Dr. Height joins a distinguished
roster of African-Americans who have received the Award including last year's
winner, Barbara Jordan. Other medalists include General Colin L. Powell, Virginia's
Governor L. Douglas Wilder, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley,
Bill Cosby and singer Leontyne Price.
ETHNIC-GROUP: African-American
LANGUAGE: English
LOAD-DATE-MDC: October 22, 1993
Copyright 1993 SOFTLINE INFORMATION, INC.
The Ethnic NewsWatch
Richmond Afro-American
August 28, 1993
SECTION: Vol. 102; No. 2; Pg. D2
LENGTH: 1073 words
HEADLINE: Commitment to the Black Family: Dr. Dorothy Height
BYLINE: Spears, LaWanza
BODY:
Commitment to the Black Family: Dr. Dorothy Height.
DR. HEIGHT
The AFRO-AMERICAN Newspaper's celebration of the Black family would not be
complete without recognizing the woman who has worked for so many years
stressing the importance of the Black family structure for preserving our customs and
alleviating the many social ills that plague the community.
Continuing in the tradition of history's powerful Black women, Dr. Dorothy Height
has remained vocal on equality and human rights for all people.
For more than 50 years she has travelled across the United States and abroad
teaching the importance of self-help and determination. Through her speeches and
community involvement Dr. Height has restored pride and confidence in society's
less fortunate.
Dr. Dorothy Irene Height was born on March 12, 1912 in Richmond, Va. From the
very beginning her parents taught her the importance of education and religion, two
principles of life that have shaped her vision for a better world.
"She is a true visionary," said Michele R. Brown, former assistant to Dr. Height and
current assistant to Lavonia Perryman, promotions director. "She has a vision that is
clear and she can articulate it so others can see it."
Dr. Height earned her bachelor and master's degrees in four years from New York
University. She did further postgraduate work at Columbia University and the New
York School of Social Work.
Although Dr. Height has held many positions in different government and social
services agencies, she is most noted for her leadership in the YWCA and the National
Council of Negro Women (NCNW). Dr. Height met Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune on
Nov. 7, 1937 during an NCNW meeting. At the request of Dr. Bethune, Dr. Height
joined the organization. Their friendship would later make history.
Dr. Height remained active at the YWCA while aiding Ms. Bethune and the
NCNW. Neither responsibility went neglected because she continued to succeed in
both capacities. She worked closely with Dr. Bethune and the NCNW in its quest to
raise the community above the limitations of race and sex. And at the YWCA, Dr.
Height went from working at a local Harlem branch to becoming director of the
National YWCA's Center for Racial Justice.
In 1947 Dr. Height assumed national presidency of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority,
Inc. And in 1957 she was appointed president of NCNW, a position she still holds
today. Dr. Height's term as Delta Sigma Theta president ended in 1956, and in 1977
she retired from the Y.
In all her leadership roles Dr. Height has upheld the principles of her mentor. "Dr.
Bethune's legacy is a message to us all. She once said, I leave you hope and love and
faith and racial pride and the challenge of working together, a respect for the use of
power, and the responsibility to our young people.' She spent her whole life opening
doors and trying to see how she could prepare her people to go inside," Dr. Height
said.
Dr. Height has picked up the torch and is continuing to open doors.
NCNW
The National Council of Negro Women was founded in 1935 by Dr. Mary Mcleod
Bethune, educator and political activist. Dr. Bethune saw the possibility of power
within an all-woman, united organization. Through its many educational, social,
cultural, economic and scientific projects NCNW works to eliminate prejudice and
discrimination.
NCNW is a voluntary, non-profit membership organization helping women to
improve the quality of life for themselves, their families and the community. Through
its 33 national affiliated organizations and 250 community-based sections, NCNW has
an outreach to 4 million women, all contributing to the peaceful solutions of
problems of human welfare and rights. NCNW is involved in the Elder Care
Institute, Women's Health Issues, and International Outreach.
NCNW has also published the Black Family Reunion Cookbook as documentation
of African-American recipes and traditions. The sequel, the Black Family Dinner Quilt
is now available.
Michele Brown, Dr. Height's former assistant, says NCNW's success is due to the
organization's commitment to meeting the needs of the people.
"They've done whatever the times have called for," she said.
BLACK FAMILY REUNION
No other project exemplifies the organization's commitment to the community than
the Black Family Reunion. The Black Family Reunion was conceived to respond to a
negative Bill Moyers/CBS special entitled, "The Vanishing Black Family."
In 1986 over 200,000 people gathered on the Mall of Washington, D.C. to
participate in a weekend of workshops, exhibits, free health checks and live
entertainment. The response was so positive that the event quickly spread to other
major cities.
Many families throughout the country have used this event to hold their own
family reunions. They come with their t-shirts and children, grandchildren and great
grandchildren from all over the country.
"There are creative and compelling things that African-American families are doing
in the face of so many challenges," Dr. Height said. "Collectively, these successful
efforts represent simple tangible examples of families coping effectively with the
problems they face. This year's Black Family Reunion Celebration will provide a
venue for presenting these success stories, which we feel can be inspiring and
life-enhancing for the millions of participants who come each year."
The Black Family Reunion Celebration has already travelled to Chicago,
Philadelphia, Atlanta and Cincinnati. Currently, it is visiting Los Angeles.
Schedule for remaining states:
Sept. 10 to 12 on the National Monument Grounds in Washington, D.C.
Sept. 17 to 19 at Overton Park in Memphis, Tenn.
This year's theme is: "Families Working Wonders: Something to Celebrate!"
All activities and programs will center around how families work to solve
problems and build stronger communities.
This year, like past years, promises to be educational and entertaining. Actor,
Danny Glover is serving as honorary chairman.
The 1993 Black Family Reunion is sponsored by The Proctor & Gamble Company,
Anheuser-Busch, AT&T, Avon, Bell Atlantic, D.C. Chartered Health Plan, Coca-Cola
U.S.A./Coca Cola Enterprise, Cover Girl, Delta Airlines, Ford Motor Company, Kraft
General Foods, Pleasant Company, Pro-Line, The Pillsbury Company, Sears Roebuck
& Co., Shell Oil Company, Reebok/Foundation/Reebok International Ltd., and a host
of media co-sponsors and contributors.
ETHNIC-GROUP: African-American
LANGUAGE: English
LOAD-DATE-MDC: January 26, 1994
Black Wowen In America: An Historical Enceplopedian
HEIGHT, DOROTHY IRENE
Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the Na-
dent with exceptional oratorical skills. With a $1,000
tional Council of Negro Women, and United Church
scholarship for winning a national oratorical contest
Women. In 1948, she was awarded an honorary doc-
sponsored by the Elks and a record of scholastic
torate of humane letters by Hamline University, the
excellence, she enrolled in New York University and
first woman graduate of Hamline to be so honored.
earned Bachelor's and Master's degrees in four years.
In 1983, she received a "pioneer woman" award from
She did further postgraduate work at Columbia Uni-
the New York State Conference on Midlife and Older
versity and the New York School of Social Work.
Women. Hedgeman was also a board member of the
Employed in many capacities by both govern-
National Council of Christians and Jews. In 1964,
ment and social service associations, she is known
she published her autobiography and study of Black
primarily for her leadership role with the Young
leadership, The Trumpet Sounds, following it with an
Women's Christian Association (YWCA) and the
assessment of the civil rights movement from 1953 to
National Council of Negro Women (NCNW). While
1974, The Gift of Chaos (1977).
working as a caseworker for the New York welfare
In later years, Hedgeman used a restaurant at 22
department, she was the first Black American named
West 135th Street as her unofficial office and meeting
to deal with the Harlem riots of 1935 and became one
place for friends during the breakfast and dinner hours.
of the young leaders of the National Youth Move-
From there she continued her efforts to improve
ment of the New Deal era. It was during this period
conditions for the people of Harlem. After fifty-four
that Height's career as a civil rights advocate began to
years of marriage, Merritt Hedgeman died in 1988;
unfold, as she worked to prevent lynching, desegre-
Anna Hedgeman died on January 17, 1990, at the age
gate the armed forces, reform the criminal justice
of ninety.
system, and guarantee free access to public accom-
Despite her indisputable accomplishments,
modations. The turning point in the life of Dorothy
Hedgeman never received the recognition due her.
Height came on November 7, 1937. That day, Mary
Partly from her own desire to better her situation and
McLeod Bethune, founder and president of the
partly forced by circumstances, she constantly changed
NCNW, noticed the assistant director of the Harlem
jobs, never remaining in one long enough to achieve
YWCA, who was escorting Eleanor Roosevelt into an
prominence as a leader. Still, her long career as a civil
NCNW meeting. Height answered Bethune's call for
rights advocate deserves further attention.
help and joined Bethune in her quest for women's
right to full and equal employment, pay, and educa-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
tion.
CA; Hedgeman, Anna Arnold. The Trumpet Sounds: A
This was the beginning of her dual role as YWCA
Memoir of Negro Leadership (1964), and The Gift of Chaos:
staff and NCNW volunteer, integrating her training
Decades of American Discontent (1977); NA; New York
as a social worker and her commitment to rise above
Amsterdam News (February 10, 1990); New York Times
the limitations of race and sex.
(January 26, 1990); Pfeffer, Paula F. A. Philip Randolph:
Pioneer of the Civil Rights Movement (1990); Anna Arnold
Height quickly rose through the ranks of the
Hedgeman papers, Schomburg Center for Research in
YWCA, from the Emma Ransom House in Harlem
Black Culture, New York Public Library, New York.
to the Phyllis Wheatley Branch in Washington, D.C.
By 1944 and until 1977, Height was a staff member of
PAULA F. PFEFFER
the National Board of the YWCA of the USA, where
she held several leadership positions and assumed
responsibility for developing leadership training ac-
tivities for volunteers and staff as well as programs to
HEIGHT, DOROTHY IRENE (1912-)
promote interracial and ecumenical education. In
For nearly half a century, Dorothy Irene Height
1965, she inaugurated and became director of the
has given leadership to the struggle for equality and
Center for Racial Justice, a position she held until
human rights for all people. Her life exemplifies her
1977 when she retired from the national YWCA.
passionate commitment to a just society and her vi-
Height was elected national president of Delta
sion of a better world.
Sigma Theta sorority in 1947 and carried the sorority
Born in Richmond, Virginia, March 24, 1912,
to a new level of organizational development through-
and educated in the public schools in Rankin, Penn-
out her term, which ended in 1956. Her leadership
sylvania, a small town near Pittsburgh, where her
training skills, social work background, and knowl-
family moved when she was four, Dorothy Irene
edge of volunteerism benefited the sorority as it moved
Height established herself early as a dedicated stu-
into a new era of activism on the national and interna-
552
HEIGHT, DOROTHY IRENE
tional scenes. From the presidency of Delta Sigma
Theta, Height assumed the presidency of the NCNW
in 1957, a position she holds today.
As the fourth president of the NCNW, Height
has led a crusade for justice for Black women and
since 1986 has worked to strengthen the Black family.
Under the leadership of Height, NCNW achieved
tax-exempt status; raised funds from thousands of
women in support of erecting a statue of Bethune in a
federal park; developed several model national and
community-based programs (ranging from teenage
parenting to swine "banks" that address hunger in
rural areas) that were replicated by other groups;
established the Bethune Museum and Archives for
Black Women, the first institution devoted to Black
women's history; and established the Bethune Coun-
cil House as a national historic site. In the 1960s,
Height placed the organization on an action course of
issue-oriented politics, sponsoring "Wednesdays in
Mississippi" when interracial groups of women would
help out at Freedom Schools; promoting voter edu-
cation drives in the North and voter registration drives
in the South; and establishing communication be-
tween Black and white women.
Her international travels and studies throughout
Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America began as
early as 1937. As vice-chair of the United Christian
A leader in the struggle for equality and buman rights,
Youth Movement of North America, she was chosen
Dorothy Irene Height is best known for her work with the
as one of ten American youth delegates to the World
Young Women's Christian Association, especially as a staff
Conference on Life and Work of the Churches in
member of the National Board of the YWCA of the USA, and
Oxford, England. Two years later Height was a YWCA
for her work with the National Council of Negro Women. As
representative to the World Conference of Christian
president of the latter organization since 1957, she has worked
Youth in Amsterdam, Holland. These early interna-
for justice for Black women and has sought to strengthen the
tional experiences and activities as a leader of the
Black family. [National Council of Negro Women, Inc.]
youth movement left her with heightened confidence
and the conviction that her goals and vision should be
broadened to encompass international perspectives.
By the early 1950s, her leadership and under-
studies and travel to expand the work of the YWCA.
standing of the need to move the woman's agenda
In 1958, she was one of a thirty-five-member Town
beyond the boundaries of the United States were
Meeting of the World on a special people-to-people
evident. While she served as a YWCA staff member,
mission to five Latin American countries. Because of
she represented the NCNW at a meeting of the Con-
her expertise in training, she was sent to study the
gress of Women in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in
training needs of women's organizations in five West
connection with Haiti's bicentennial exposition; while
African countries.
there, she arranged for the initiation of the first inter-
These early international and human relations
national chapter of Delta Sigma Theta. In 1952,
experiences helped prepare her for moving the NCNW
Height arranged a four-month visiting professorship
agenda into one of cooperation and collaboration in
at the University of Delhi, India, in the Delhi School
response to the needs of the people, both domesti-
of Social Work, which was founded by the YWCA of
cally and internationally. But her experiences also
India, Burma, and Ceylon to learn firsthand the needs
caught the attention of the human rights community
of Indian women. Height became known for her
as well as the federal government. In 1966, Height
internationalism and humanitarianism, and became
served on the Council to the White House Confer-
the YWCA representative to conduct international
ence "To Fulfill These Rights"; went to Israel to
553
HEMINGS, SALLY
participate in a twelve-day study mission sponsored
Camille Cosby World of Children Award, 1990; the
by the Institute on Human Relations of the American
Caring Award by the Caring Institute, 1989; and the
Jewish Committee; and attended an Anglo-American
Olender Foundation's Generous Heart Award, 1990.
Conference on Problems of Minority Integration held
Dr. Height has received over twenty honorary
by the Ditchley Foundation. In 1974, she was a del-
degrees, from such institutions as Spelman College,
egate to the United Nations Educational, Scientific,
Lincoln University (Pennsylvania), Central State Uni-
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Conference
versity, and Princeton University.
on Woman and Her Rights held in Kingston, Ja-
As a result of her extraordinary leadership in
maica; in 1975, she participated in the Tribunal at the
advancing women's rights, her dedication to the lib-
International Women's Year Conference of the United
eration of Black America, and her selfless
Nations at Mexico City. As a result of this experience,
determination, Height has carried out the dream of
under Height's leadership the NCNW was awarded a
her friend and mentor, Mary McLeod Bethune, to
grant from the United States Agency for Interna-
leave no one behind. As a self-help advocate, she has
tional Development to hold a conference for women
been instrumental in the initiation of NCNW-spon-
from the United States, Africa, South America, and
sored food drives, child care and housing projects,
the Caribbean in Mexico City and to arrange a site
and career and educational programs that embody
visit with rural women in Mississippi. Under the
the principles of self-reliance. She is proud that the
auspices of the United States Information Agency,
NCNW established and maintains the Fannie Lou
Height lectured in South Africa after addressing the
Hamer Day Care Center in Ruleville, Mississippi. As
National Convention of the Black Women's Federa-
a promoter of positive Black family life, Height con-
tion of South Africa near Johannesburg in 1977.
ceived and organized the Black Family Reunion
Her distinguished service and contributions to
Celebration in 1986 to reinforce the historic strengths
making the world more just and humane have earned
and traditional values of the African-American fam-
her over fifty awards and honors from local, state, and
ily. Now in its sixth year in seven cities, the Black
national organizations and the federal government.
Family Reunion Celebration has made a difference in
With Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey she re-
the lives of four million participants. Dorothy Height,
ceived the John F. Kennedy Memorial Award of the
too, has made a difference during her six decades of
National Council of Jewish Women in 1965; and in
public life as dream giver, earth shaker, and crusader
1964, she was awarded the Myrtle Wreath of Achieve-
for human rights.
ment by Hadassah. For her contributions to the
[See also NATIONAL COUNCIL OF NEGRO
interfaith, interracial, and ecumenical movements for
WOMEN.]
over thirty years, she was awarded the Ministerial
Interfaith Association Award in 1969; she received
BIBLIOGRAPHY
the Lovejoy Award, the highest recognition by the
CBWA; NBAW; WWBA.
Grand Lodge, I.B.P.O. Elks of the World for out-
standing contribution to human relations in 1968. In
ELEANOR HINTON HOYTT
1974, Ladies' Home Fournal named her "Woman of
the Year" in human rights; and the Congressional
Black Caucus presented Height the William L.
Dawson Award for "Decades of public service to
HEMINGS, SALLY (1773-c. 1835)
people of color and particularly women."
It is believed by some that Sally Hemings, a Black
Working closely with Dr. Martin Luther King,
American woman who lived and died as a slave, was
Jr., Roy Wilkins, Whitney Young, A. Philip Ran-
the mistress of Thomas Jefferson and the mother of
dolph, and others, Height participated in virtually all
several children by him. Although not nearly enough
the major civil and human rights events of the 1960s.
is known about the specific facts of her life, what is
For her tireless efforts on behalf of the less fortunate,
known suggests a woman of considerable interest and
President Ronald Reagan presented her with the Citi-
character whether or not the legends that surround
zens Medal Award for distinguished service in 1989,
her are true.
the year she also received the Franklin Delano Roose-
Born in 1773, she was the daughter of Betty
velt Freedom Medal from the Franklin and Eleanor
Hemings and John Wayles, Her mother was the
Roosevelt Institute. Her awards also include the Es-
daughter of "a full-blooded African" woman and an
sence Award, 1987; the Stellar Award, 1990; the
English ship captain; her father was both her mother's
554
Notable Black American Women
Height
sent women and all youth in one person.
University Press. 1977), and articles in numerous organiza-
She is a disciplined person
[and she] is in
tional publications, newspapers. and journals.
essence the consummation of the quality of the
past of Negro woman and part of the hope of all
After nearly a lifetime of concern for justice in all aspects
of us for the future (The Trumpet Sounds, 179-
of national and world culture, Hedgeman, who had been a
80).
resident of the Greater Harlem Nursing Home. died on
January 17, 1990. in Harlem Hospital.
()n the day of the march the problem was corrected, but
Hedgeman and others were reminded by the initial plan that
References
black women. as well as white women, were still treated as
Contemporary Authors. Vol. 15-16. Detroit: Gale Re-
second-class citizens in American culture.
search, 1966.
Hedgeman was involved in international as well as nation-
Hedgeman, Anna Arnold, Biography File, Fisk Universi-
al activities. In 1953 she spent three months in India as an
ty Library.
exchange leader for the Department of State. In 1956 she
spent six weeks in the Middle East and Israel discussing
Letter to Jessie Carney Smith, 19 December
current international problems with key governmental and
1980.
nongovernment officials. She participated in two interna-
tional conferences on social work in Munich, Germany
The Trumpet Sounds. New York: Holt, Rinehart
and Winston, 1964.
(1956). and Tokyo, Japan (1958), discussing reciprocity for
seamen of the world. She was keynote speaker for the first
Low, W. Augustus, and Virgil A. Clift. Encyclopedia of
Conference of the Women of Africa and of African Descent
Black America. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1981.
held at Accra. Ghana. in 1960, and in 1973 she participated
in the International Conference of Social Work at The
New York Times, 26 January 1990.
Hague, Netherlands.
Ploski, Harry A., and James Williams. Negro Almanac.
Hedgeman has served as teacher. lecturer, and consultant
5th ed. Detroit: Gale Research, 1989. Photograph, p. 1381.
to numerous educational centers, boards, and colleges and
Who's Who of American Women. 8th ed., 1974-75.
universities, particularly in the area of African-American
Chicago: Marquis. 1973.
studies. She has presented courses in African-American
studies and held inservice training series for public school
Collections
teachers. In later years she owned Hedgeman Consultant
Services in New York City.
Speeches, notes, correspondence, photographs, and other
materials on Anna Arnold Hedgeman are in the Schomburg
Hedgeman held memberships in numerous organizations,
Center for Research on Black Culture and in the Fisk
such as the Child Study Association, Community Council of
University Library. Oral history interviews are in the Black
the City of New York, National Urban League, NAACP,
Women Oral History Collection, Schlesinger Library,
United Nations Association, Advisory Committee on Alco-
Radcliffe College. the YMCA Oral History Collection,
holism, Advisory Committee on Drug Addiction, and the
Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, and the Schomburg
National Conference of Christians and Jews (where she
Center.
served on the board of directors).
Jessie Carney Smith
Hedgeman's alma mater, Hamline University, inducted
her into Phi Beta Kappa in 1976. Honorary doctoral degrees
have been received from Hamline University (1948), Upsala
College (1970), Benedict College (1978), Dowling College
(1977). and Macalaster College (1980). Her other recognitions
include the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Meritorious Cita-
tion as a pioneer for human rights, 1953; Consumer Protec-
Dorothy Height
tive Committee Award, 1955; Outstanding Citizens' Award,
(1912-)
Abyssinian Baptist Church, New York City, 1956; Zeta Phi
Beta Sorority Award, 1956; Manhattan Arts and Educational
Organization leader, social servant, civil and
Guild Award Certificate, 1957; Rust College Shield Award,
women's rights activist
1971; Tenth Anniversary Award. Delta Ministry of Missis-
sippi, 1974; and the Frederick Douglass Award in recogni-
tion of distinguished leadership toward equal opportunity.
1974.
Dorothy Irene Height has served as president of the
National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) since 1957.
Hedgeman is author of The Trumpet Sounds (New York:
Holt. Rinehart, 1964), The Gift of Chaos (New York: Oxford
Under her leadership the council has grown as a coalition of
black women's organizations. focusing especially during her
485
Height
Notable Black American Women
YWCA, where her leadership skills and her basketball
prowess were developed. By the age of fourteen, Height was
elected president of the Pennsylvania State Federation of
Girls Clubs.
Upon graduation from high school, Height applied to
Barnard College in New York City. She was informed by the
school, however, that they already had two black students
and therefore she would have to wait a term or more. She
chose instead to attend New York University, using a one-
thousand-dollar scholarship she had won from an Elks
Fraternal Society's national oratorical contest. While attend-
ing NYU, she lived with her sister and worked at odd jobs to
support herself. Height finished her undergraduate course
work in three years and in her fourth year worked to receive
her master's degree in educational psychology. This course
work was completed in 1933.
After completing her formal education, Height took a
practice teaching position at Brownsville Community Center
in Brooklyn. Also, following the founding of the United
Christian Youth Movement in 1935, she became an active
member and quickly became one of its leaders. This position
enabled her to travel widely throughout the United States and
Dorothy Height
to Europe. In 1937 she represented the organization at the
International Church Youth Conference in Oxford, England,
tenure on global issues that affect the struggles of women.
as well as serving as a youth delegate at the World Confer-
She also served as national president of Delta Sigma Theta
ence of Christian Youth in Amsterdam, Holland. In 1938
sorority from 1947 until 1956, has served on numerous
Height, acting as a representative of the Harlem Youth
United States committees concerned with women's issues,
Council, became one of ten American youths to help Eleanor
won countless service awards, and has traveled extensively
Roosevelt plan the 1938 World Youth Congress that met at
for the cause of women's issues worldwide. She spent the
Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York.
majority of her professional life as a staff member of the
Young Women's Christian Association's (YWCA) National
In 1935 Height became a case worker for the New York
Board. Through her professional and voluntary responsibili-
City Department of Welfare. To strengthen her background
ties, Height has fought to improve the status of women and to
for this position, she began course work at the New York
empower women to speak in their own behalf.
School of Social Work. Following the Harlem riots of 1935,
she was promoted to an advisory position to examine the
Height was born on March 24, 1912, to James Edward
unrest.
Height and Fannie (Borroughs) Height. The family moved
from Richmond, Virginia, to Rankin, Pennsylvania, a small
Height accepted a position with the YWCA in 1938 after
mining town, in 1916. She has one sister, a half sister, and a
her return from Europe to the United States. By this time she
half brother. Her father worked as a building contractor, and
had decided that she could use her skills more productively in
her mother was a private nurse to cancer patients. The family
an organization that was inclusive of the races and interna-
worshipped at a local, segregated Baptist church where
tional in character. This new job took her from Brooklyn to
James Height, a religious man, was choirmaster and Sunday
Harlem where she became assistant director of the Emma
school superintendent. Reminiscing about her earliest years,
Ransom House, a place of lodging for black women.
Height recalled that most of her life was spent in the church
and related organizations, where she "sort of followed [her
Plight of Domestic Workers Attacked
mother] around and got into the idea of organizing clubs"
In her new capacity, Height was immediately confronted
(Current Biography Yearbook, 216).
with the plight of large numbers of black American women in
Height attended Rankin High School, where she was an
domestic service jobs working under deplorable conditions.
exemplary student, both in academics and athletics. She won
She became their advocate, speaking up, for example. in
spelling, debate, and speech contests throughout high school
1938 when she testified before the New York City Council
while maintaining a straight "A" grade point average. After
about the despicable practice occurring in Brooklyn and the
outgrowing childhood asthma and reaching a height of five-
Bronx daily. Here on the streets, in what she called a "slave
feet nine-and-a-half inches by age eleven, she played center
market." young black girls would bargain with passing
on the basketball team. She also cowrote the school song and
motorists for a day's housework at substandard wages (Cur-
sang in a trio. Outside of school she became active in the
rent Biography Yearbook, 217). The battle for fair wages for
Notable Black American Women
Height
domestic workers is one that she maintains to this day, urging
The creation of international Delta chapters can be directly
them to organize and form unions.
attributed to Height. Following her participation in the
bicentennial celebration of Haiti in Port-au-Prince in 1950,
This period of her life set the course for much of her future
she organized the sorority's first international chapter. Fur-
work. In 1937 Height not only began working with the
ther, the organization established a Haitian relief fund, which
YWCA but she also met Mary McLeod Bethune, president
after only four years proved invaluable when the island was
and founder of the National Council of Negro Women
hit by the destructive Hurricane Hazel. Height also increased
(NCNW): This meeting was life-transforming. as she joined
the board's international and political consciousness by
the organization that she was to lead for more than thirty
taking them to meet members of the United Nations' Depart-
ment of Information and the Political and Economic Com-
mittee on the Rights of Women.
In 1939. Height relocated to Washington, D.C., to take a
new position as executive secretary of the YWCA Phillis
Height also had plans for the Deltas on the home front.
Wheatley Home. At this time she also became a member of
They started a bookmobile to serve the black people of
Delta Sigma Theta sorority. She immediately made her
Georgia and held a series of nationally broadcast town
presence and ideas known. At an executive committee meet-
meetings. Height later recalled that she was "looking for
ing in June 1940. Height proposed that the Delta Sigma Theta
ways in which we [could] make Delta stand out from day to
Sorority adopt as a national project a job analysis program
day; to take a look at ourselves and see how we [could] have a
that would analyze the reasons that black women were
stronger and better program; to see what to develop for
excluded from so many of the jobs open to women, increase
Deltas; and to work together, play together, yet find a kind of
the number of positions for black women on jobs already
unity which [could] make the organization live" (Giddings.
accessible to other women, and improve conditions under
224). She was successful in just that. She made Delta run
which many unskilled workers were forced to work. The
smoothly, stepping down from the presidency in 1956 after
project was deemed of utmost importance because at that
she felt she had accomplished her goals for the organization.
time many women over the age of fourteen were working,
and most married black women held employment outside of
Height Heads National Council of Negro Women
their homes. Another major emphasis of the project was to
After her term as sorority head ended, Height could not
achieve a substantial representation of leaders on labor policy
long remain outside of club politics. In 1957 she became
boards and commissions. Height headed the project for the
president of the National Council of Negro Women. The
organization. During the same year she also directed the
council, created by Bethune, was conceived as a means of
YWCA School for Professional Workers in Mt. Carroll,
"uniting middle- and upper-class black women in humani-
Illinois.
tarian causes and social action programs
[through]
policies and programs stressing inter-race and inter-class
Height's professional career with the national board YWCA
cooperation" (Current Biography Yearbook, 216). It is an
began full-time in 1944, when she became a staff member
umbrella group for local and national organizations engaged
for leadership development at the board headquarters in New
in "development and utilization and women in community,
York City. In this capacity she was assigned to aid in the
national and international life" (Encyclopedia of Associa-
development of training programs for volunteers and staff of
tions. 1776). These goals are accomplished on economic,
the YWCA. As a member of the staff, she played a key role in
political, and social levels using the resources available to
planning the organization's landmark convention in 1946,
individual members and the unity of the groups.
where the membership voted to support an interracial charter
to mandate integration of facilities and activities to the limits
Through the organization. Height became an integral part
of the law. At this convention, she became the national
of the leadership of the civil rights movement in the United
board's interracial education secretary.
States and abroad. Beginning in 1948, when Governor
Nelson Rockefeller of New York appointed her to the state
During 1944 Height was also elected vice-president of
Social Welfare Board. she has held a variety of official and
Delta Sigma Theta. Three years later she became national
unofficial positions. representing black American women's
president. During the nine years she held the position,
issues.
according to Paula Giddings's history of the organization,
"neither the direction nor the substance of the initiatives
In 1960. in the wake of major changes in the African
changed under (her) leadership. but the breadth and interest
political scene. the Committee on Correspondence sent Height
in them did'' (Giddings, 219). She expanded the sorority into
to study women's organizations in five African countries. As
one more focused on the relationship between black women
a result of that travel she acted as a consultant to the secretary
in America and in Third World countries. When she was
of state. In this capacity, Height is said to have "used her
invited by the World YWCA to teach for four months at the
influence to help win American aid for the new black African
Delhi School of Social Work in India in 1952. for example,
nations and foster a consciousness of identity between the
she relayed the similar conditions of women in India and
struggles of blacks here and there'' (Current Biography
convinced her sorority members to establish a scholarship for
Yearbook. 217).
two Hindu women.
As the civil rights struggle expanded in the United States,
487
Height
Notable Black American Women
Dorothy Height was there. The NCNW held voter education
the NCNW to become eligible for large foundation grants; a
drives in the North and voter registration drives in the South.
first in the history of black women's organizations.
Working with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Commit-
tee (SNCC). the NCNW raised funds and paid students who
The Ford Foundation granted the council three hundred
postponed their college education to rally for the civil rights
thousand dollars to begin Operation Woman Power. a project
struggle.
to help women open their own businesses and to provide
funds for vocational training. During the same period. the
Height was instrumental in getting the YWCA involved
United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
with the struggle as well. In 1963. as newly appointed
supplied the means for a job training program for teenagers.
secretary of the Department of Racial Justice, she was asked
The council spent time in areas where community needs were
to plan strategies to overcome internal segregation in the
not being met. calling them to the attention of those in power.
association. Although the membership had committed to
It went to rural areas and bought seed and feed for poor
integration thirteen years before, the YWCA had never really
farmers and communities and started food cooperatives.
achieved this goal: rather, they had concentrated on strength-
ening so-called equal black branches. Height was given the
With the new influx of philanthropic and government
task of helping member associations to desegregate all facili-
dollars, Height led the organization into an era of phenome-
ties, branches. and local staff and to design training programs
nal growth. With at least ninety workers in their staff, the
for volunteers and staff. One example of her work was the
work of the NCNW was critical to programs ranging from pig
involvement of the YWCA in setting up a stable line of
banks in the rural South to leadership training for African
communication between black and white citizens in Ala-
women. The YWCA also felt the impact of Height's mild
bama, where they arranged workshops to enlighten congress-
radicalism. In 1970 at its triennial convention, Height was
men who had previously ignored the concerns of their few
one of the principal architects of the now famous YWCA One
black constituents. Another example was a telephone regis-
Imperative, which affirmed for the organization the primary
tration project that was initiated through the YWCA's radio
importance of "elimination of racism" as a means to cure
station in New York City, WMCA.
oppression in society. She was adamant in her conviction that
the pressures of being black and a woman in America
During these controversial years in America, Height of-
deserved their deepest consideration. Height felt "the Y
fered her leadership in many arenas. She was chairperson of
must get middle-class black and white liberals into the
the Committee on the Status of Women, Equal Employment.
ghettos working not for, but with. minority groups" (Noble,
and Employment of the Handicapped. As well. the NCNW
140). The YWCA released a public affairs statement con-
was represented on the Council for United Civil Rights
firming her projection of the devastation that would be
Leadership. Height also served as a member of the American
wrought upon America if racism is not eradicated. In 1978
Red Cross Board of Governors from 1964 to 1970 and on the
Height was lauded by Simeon Booker, in Ebony magazine,
Ad Hoc Committee on Public Welfare of the United States
for her activism. In his column, 'Washington Notebook,'
Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. She was a
he told readers of her fight to gain approval for the first
consultant to the New York State Social Welfare Board from
monument to a black person in the nation's capital. The
1958 to 1968. The degree of Height's visibility was apparent
statue of Mary McLeod Bethune is now located in Lincoln
when an advertisement for American Airlines featured her in
Park=He also informed readers about an educational cam-
the November 1963 Ebony magazine.
paign in South Africa that the council was operating under
Height's leadership. According to Booker, she achieved
During the early years of the civil rights movement,
great success in the 1960s despite her position as "a black
Height was known to take a rather moderate stance on
female token on the male-dominated Civil Rights front"
matters of integration and civil rights. She did not support the
(Noble, 140).
call for black power as a means to attain the rights promised
to all citizens of the United States. However, by 1972 she
During the past three decades the council has remained
altered her position, stating that:
diligent in its role as a catalyst for effecting change in the
position of black women. Currently. their focus has been on
White power in the system in which we live is a
the revival of black family life. with annual celebrations that
reality
We have to see that we have been
they call Black Family Reunions. These events are intended
treating the symptoms instead of causes. I think
to encourage and renew the concept and admiration of the
this does call for the more direct approach to the
extended black family. This once-powerful barrier against
societal conditions (Current Biography Year-
racism and its attendant ills. such as juvenile delinquency,
book, 218).
drug use. and unwanted teen pregnancy, is seen by Height
and the NCNW to be the key to restoring the community. For
This change in attitude was evident in her activities in the
example, in 1988 the council, along with the more than
council and the YWCA. The council was finally coming
ninety thousand in attendance, gathered to lobby policy
closer to. bringing all the fingers together in a mighty fist,
makers who continue to ignore the relationship between
which was the vision of Bethune at its inception (Noble,
social and economic progress and family structure. The
140). According to author Jeanne Noble, Height was able to
agenda focused on distortions of black family life perpetu-
build a financial and administrative capability that positioned
ated in the media and promoting marriage and advocating
488
Notable Black American Women
Hemings
the re-emphasis of traditional values in the black communi-
"Family Affair. Wall Street Journal 20 September
ty. according to the Wall Street Journal. The Journal
1988.
commended the council for the celebrations: "If its move-
ment to reinforce black families gains momentum, it could be
Giddings. Paula. In Search of Sisterhood. New York:
the best thing that ever happened to the black underclass"
William Morris. 1988.
(Current Biography Yearbook, 218).
Manning, Beverly. We Shall Be Heard. Metuchen. N.J.:
In addition. under Height's leadership the council pub-
Scarecrow Press. 1988.
lishes Black Woman's Voice and runs a Women's Center for
Education and Career Advancement for minority women in
Noble. Jeanne. Beautiful, Also. Are the Souls of My Black
nontraditional careers, an Information Center for and about
Sisters. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1978.
black women, and the Bethune Museum and Archives for
black women's history. It has offices in West and South
Rowan, Carl T. "Crusade of Hope.' Washington Post (1
Africa, working to improve the conditions of women in Third
September 1987): A-23.
World countries. Height has spoken extensively on the
responsibilities of the United States, United Nations, and
Collections
local organizations in pursuit of these improvements.
The papers of Dorothy Irene Height are in the office of the
Height has been central in the success of three influential
women's organizations and they have been substantially
National Council of Negro Women, Washington. D.C.
affected by her leadership. As president and executive board
Jenifer Lyn Grady and Maalik Edwards,
member of Delta Sigma Theta, Height left the sorority more
with Adrienne Lash Jones
efficient and globally focused, with a centralized headquar-
ters. Height's work with the Young Women's Christian
Association led to integration and sincere and productive
participation in the civil rights movement. The National
Council of Negro Women is now a competent umbrella for
240 local groups and thirty-one national organizations. In
different ways each organization has been striving toward the
unified goal of equal rights for black women all over the
Sally Hemings
world. Through diligence, excellent managerial skills. good
use of contacts, and use of authority, she has left an undeni-
(1773-1836)
able mark in each endeavor she has undertaken. Height is the
Slave companion
recipient of a multitude of awards and holds honorary de-
grees from Tuskegee University, Coppin State College in
Maryland, Harvard University, and Pace College in New
York.
During the period of American slavery. the lives of
References
millions of people of African descent were lost forever in
``American Airlines Advertisement. Ebony 19 (Novem-
irrecoverable silence; we will never know the stories of the
her 1963): 118.
vast majority of enslaved people because the dominant
culture deprived slaves of their voices as well as their
Black Women Oral History Project Interview. Schlesinger
homelands. their languages, their labor, their bodies, and
Library, Radcliffe College, 1974.
their children. Sally Hemings was more fortunate than most
in the sense that at least legends about her have survived.
Booker. Simeon. "Washington Notebook.' Ebony 33
However, the Sally Hemings legends are so entwined with
(May 1978): 29.
political lies. secrets. and silences that it is very difficult for
Contributions of Black Women to America. Vol. 2. Ed.
the modern scholar to ascertain much about her.
Marianna W. Davis. Columbia, S.C.: Kenday Press. 1982.
Includes photograph.
Whatever the agonies, joys. ideas. and experiences of the
historical Sally Hemings may have been. her body has
Current Biography Yearbook. New York: H. W. Wilson,
figuratively become the territory over which American racial
1972. Includes photograph.
and sexual battles have been waged for nearly two hundred
years. Although we will never find the ``true`` Sally Hemings,
Encyclopedia of Associations. Vol. I. Part 2. Eds. Debo-
the history of controversy surrounding her is deeply reveal-
rah Burek. Karin E. Koek. and Annette Novallo. Detroit:
ing of the American oppression of race and sex. In fact. very
Gale Research, 1990.
little has been written by scholars about Hemings herself;
Encyclopedia of Black America. Edited by W. Augustus
most of the controversy has centered on Thomas Jefferson.
Low and Virgil A. Clift. New York: McGraw-Hill. 1981.
The historical evidence establishes convincingly that Jeffer-
son owned a slave named Sally Hemings. and that she bore
489
Copyright 1994 Essence Communications, Inc.
Essence
February, 1994
SECTION: CONTEMPORARY LIVING; Black History Month; Remembering; Pg. 102
LENGTH: 698 words
HEADLINE: MARY McLEOD BETHUNE
BYLINE: BY DOROTHY I. HEIGHT WITH JACQUELINE TRESCOTT; Dr. Dorothy I.
Height is the president and CEO of the National Council of Negro Women, Inc.
Jacqueline Trescott is a style writer for the Washington Post.
HIGHLIGHT:
Dorothy Height, the president of the National Council of Negro Women, remembers
the woman who founded the organization, built a college and became a formidable
force in American politics
BODY:
I had never met a person who used her own personal power for others like my
mentor, Mary McLeod Bethune. She was deeply religious, having once even thought
of being a missionary. Whenever there was a difficulty, she would say, "Let's now
have prayer." Even in the office she would pray out loud, and everyone would get on
their knees or bow their heads. I can hear her repeating one of the hymns, "Oh what
a fellowship, leaning on the everlasting arms." She had an abiding faith that gave her
confidence and direction.
The day I met Mrs. Bethune was November 7, 1937. I was working for the Phillis
Wheatley YWCA in New York, and Mrs. Bethune was having a meeting of the
members of the National Council of Negro Women. I had seen her and had heard
her speak but never had direct contact with her. She was a formidable presence.
Mrs. Bethune, the daughter of slaves, had founded a college and the National Council
of Negro Women. At this time she was the director of the Division of Negro Affairs
in the National youth Administration, the titular head of the Federal Council on
Negro Affairs commonly. referred to as the "Black Cabinet" of advisers to President
Franklin D. Roosevelt and a close friend of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
Mrs. Roosevelt was scheduled to speak at the meeting. I was assigned to meet the
First Lady at the door. She came through the service entrance, and I ran around to
get her. She made her speech, and all the women sang one of Mrs. Bethune's favorite
songs, "Let Me Call You Sweetheart." As I was about to leave, Mrs. Bethune stopped
me and asked me my name and said, "Come back, we need you." I knew Mrs.
Bethune the rest of her life.
Yes, she had a strong sense of herself that was related to her faith and her
recognition that she had within her "The Power." Not power over, but the power to
do. It is true when she spoke she would talk about herself. It is true that she had a
strong sense of self-esteem, but she could also laugh at herself.
Once an associate was meeting her at the train station. As she walked up she saw
Mrs. Bethune's drawers on the ground down around her feet. So she went up
and said, "Mrs. Bethune, your panties are down." Mrs. Bethune said, "Don't you think
I know that?" And she stepped out of them and kept on going. There she was in a
Persian lamb coat, and she wasn't going to stoop down and pull up her drawers. She
had presence.
That dignity and humor allowed her to deal with the racial insults of the times.
She was at the White House for tea once, and one of the White women said, "Mrs.
Bethune, it is wonderful of Mrs. Roosevelt to have you here." And Mrs. Bethune said,
"It is great of her to have all of us here." Another time she was leaving the White
House and a southern politician said, "Auntie, what are you doing here?" and she
replied, "Which one of my sister's children are you?"
Next to my own mother, Mrs. Bethune had the greatest impact on me. I learned
from her that you have to do your homework. You just don't jump off on things. She
was instrumental in getting African-American women in the Wacs (Army). Another
time we were getting ready for a meeting with government officials about getting
Black women into the Waves (Navy). Everyone had an assignment, and she said,
"You know about residences and housing people of different backgrounds. You come
prepared to talk about the fact that people of different races can live together." She
laid out the issue. After it was over, and we had had two and a half hours of
discussion, one of the admirals said, "If I have to meet with Mrs. Bethune and her
ladies again, give me more notice so I can bring my lawyers." Less than 30 days later
some African-American women were sworn in. Of course, she had also identified
women who would be interested in the job and met the qualifications.
What comes to mind so often is how Mrs. Bethune pressed her point without being
confrontational. She helped me understand a key approach: Always have more
power and authority than you have used. It doesn't mean that you don't ever have
to pound the table when it's time to use it, but you don't start with it.
GRAPHIC: Picture, no caption, BETTMANN ARCHIVES
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
-1-
I need to state the obvious. Language falls short when it is
tasked to convey all that Miss Height has given us. Who can size
up her place in history or pay fair tribute to her spirit and
accomplishment.
She walks among us with such grace and character and creative
force--she possesses such a gift for seeing what is possible.
She takes such care to get things right, and once she is fully
prepared, she acts.
Dorothy Height grew up in the small mining town of Rankin,
Pennsylvania. She was smart, beautiful and tall -- she played
center on her high school basket ball team. Worked in the YWCA.
Led the Pennsylvania State Federation of Girls Clubs as it
president when she WS fourteen. From the very beginning this
woman was busy organizing.
And people began to notice her. She was a world class star.
As a young woman she went to Oxford England representing the
United Christian Youth Movement at the International church
Conference. Then it was on to Amsterdam and the World Conference
of Christian Youth. Later as a member of the Harlem youth
Council she helped Eleanor Roosevelt plan the 1938 World Youth
Congress.
And people began to notice her. She was a world
class star. She was and is, as many of her admirers are fond of
saying, "the hardest working woman in show business. "
Miss Height then went to work for the YWCA , first directing a
lodging home for black womenhome for accepted a position with the
YWCA
Tonight I have told you very little about Dorothy Iren Height.
It is hard to consider all she has done, and all she will
do, and still think of her as one of us mere mortals.
To those who thrive in her wake, Miss Height is a person of
regal stature. To me, in the ancient sense, she is indeed a
queen.
The Old Testament story of Esther has always been a kind of
practical guide for me. A handbook of action, where praying and
planning and developing a strategy actually pays off. Even when
the mission is risky. Even when the critics are many.
From the day I met Miss Height I can never read Esther without
thinking of her.
-2-
Made a queen by King Xerxes because her beauty and character had
won his heart, Esther risks her life by revealing herself to be a
Jew and going before the king to ask that he withdraw his order
to kill all those of Jewish birth. She boldly saves her people,
but Esther's bravery is cool and calculated. She knows that
courage does not supplant careful planning.
Esther calculates the cost of action, and finds her life is at
stake. She sets priorities, placing the lives of others above
her own safety. She carefully sets a course of action then moves
boldly forth.
Esther could have risked very little and saved her life and that
of Mordecai, her stepfather. Instead, she and Mordecai saw that
God had placed them where they were for a purpose that it was
within their reach to do for others. God had placed Esther in
her position "for such a time as this. "
Miss Height does not ask God to fix things for her or her people.
She gets in a position and she uses it. Like Esther, she knows
how to use the positive. Like Esther, Miss Height gathers her
people together to talk and plan and pray. And like Esther, Miss
Height moves when she knows she is ready. "If I perish, I
perish
for who knoweth if thou art come to the kingdom for such
a time as this."
-3-
Of all her accomplishments, I like to think of one that may be
lesser known as exemplifying Miss Height and her great resolve.
She fought long and hard to gain approval for a statue of Mrs.
Bethune in Lincoln Park, in Washington--an image of great power,
grace and joy, with the figure of Mrs. Bethune holding the hands
of children. It was the first monument to an African American in
our nation's capital. But after its unveiling, Miss Height
noticed that across the park a statue of President Lincoln stood
with his back to Mrs. Bethune. To Miss Height it was obvious--it
had to be turned around. Now erecting a sculpture of a black
woman was one thing, but uprooting Mr. Lincoln and reversing his
field of view was quite another. But Miss Height gathered her
people, set her network in action, prayed, explained, argued,
cajoled and persevered with one fixed goal in mind. No matter
how many city fathers cited precedents or practicality, no matter
how many city planners argued aesthetics, Miss Height patiently
stood by what she knew was right, for public sculpture is a
symbol and a message to our young. and today in Lincoln Park,
its namesake gazes with respect at Mary McLeod Bethune.
Remembering her mentor, Miss Height once said, "Next to my own
mother, Mrs. Bethune had the greatest impact on me. I learned
from her that you have to your homework. You just don't jump off
on things. "
-4-
tonight we honor a woman who turns statues around.
Miss Height, in large part we are here tonight because you taught
us to do our homework. To praise you, we will work with you on
all that is left to do. To honor you, we will learn from your
works and heed your voice, and use the positions we earn to help
people. And inspired by you, we each will ask, as Esther asked
so long ago, "How can I endure to see the evil the shall come
unto my people, or how can I endure to see the destruction of my
kindred."