LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION mourning the death of Dorothy Height, a leader of
the African-American and women's civil rights movements

WHEREAS, On Tuesday, April 20, 2010, Dorothy Height, a champion of women
and minorities, and President Emerita of the National Council of Negro
Women, died at the age of 98; and
WHEREAS, Ms. Height had a career in civil rights that spanned nearly
80 years, from anti-lynching protests in the early 1930s to being an
honored witness at the inauguration of President Barack Obama in 2009;
he called her "the godmother of the civil rights movement and hero to so
many Americans"; and
WHEREAS, Ms. Height regularly worked on projects of national signif-
icance alongside the "Big Six" male civil rights leaders; in 1963 she
sat next to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during his epochal "I Have a
Dream" speech at the March on Washington; a prizewinning orator and one
of the March's chief organizers, Ms. Height was not asked to speak that
day, although many other leaders - all men - addressed that day's crowd;
and
WHEREAS, A star scholar, Dorothy Height was accepted at Barnard
College in 1929, only to be told by the dean that she could not enroll
that year because the quota for Negro students had already been met; she
earned a bachelor's degree in education and a master's in psychology
from New York University; 75 years after being turned away from Barnard,
the college awarded Ms. Height its highest honor, the Barnard Medal of
Distinction; and
WHEREAS, After serving as a caseworker with the New York City Welfare
Department, Dorothy Height became assistant executive director of the
Harlem YWCA in the late 1930s, catching the attention of the interna-
tional news media by speaking out against the "slave markets" exploiting
black women working as domestic day workers; and
WHEREAS, At the age of 25, Ms. Height became a member of the National
Council of Negro Women and served as its president from 1957 to 1997,
overseeing programs ranging from voting rights, to poverty and AIDS; and
WHEREAS, In 1946, Dorothy Height oversaw the desegregation of the YWCA
nationwide; in 1965, she founded the Y's Center for Racial Justice,
which she led until 1977; and
WHEREAS, From 1946 to 1957, Ms. Height was the president of Delta
Sigma Theta, an international sorority of black women; and, along with
Gloria Steinem, Shirley Chisholm, Betty Friedan and others, Ms. Height
founded the National Women's Political Caucus in 1971; and
WHEREAS, In 1994, President Bill Clinton awarded Dorothy Height the
Presidential Medal of Freedom; in 2004, she was presented with the
Congressional Gold Medal by President George W. Bush; and
WHEREAS, Armed with a humanistic spirit, imbued with a sense of
compassion, and comforted by a loving family, Dorothy Height leaves
behind a legacy which will long endure the passage of time and will
remain as a comforting memory to all she served and befriended; now,
therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
remember Dorothy Height as past President of the National Council of
Negro Women, a founder of the National Women's Political Caucus, civil
rights grande dame, presidential advisor and champion of the rights of
women; and be it further
RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to the National Council of Negro Women and to Dorothy Height's
sister, Anthanette Aldridge of New York City.