Dorothy Height: Civil Rights Activist

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Dorothy height was born in Richmond Virginia on March 24, 1912. Height was a civil rights activist along with a women’s right activist. Over the span of her career height received more than 50 awards from varies local, state, and national organizations. Some her major awards that she received were; Presidential Citizens Medal in 1989, Spingarn Medal in 1993, Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994, Jefferson Awards for Public Service in 2001, Heinz Awards in 2001, and Congressional Gold Medal in 2004. While height was fighting for social reforms for both genders she was mainly focused on reforms for African American women. She advocated for things like freedom of choice for women and for better living along with working conditions for women and men. The life and accomplishments of height and how she fought for the escape from racial and sexual discrimination, and is not mentioned in history classes today, shows how inherently harder it is for women to fight for justice during the civil rights movement. Women activist, like Height have had to fight a two-front war, one being that of racism and the other being that of sexism. The fight for justice has always been different for men and women. Even if men are being persecuted …show more content…

In 1937 Height joined the staff of the Harlem YWCA. Shortly after joining she was chosen to escort Eleanor Roosevelt to a meeting of the National Council of Negro Women, which her facility in Harlem was hosting. At that same meeting she met the founder, Mary McLeod Bethune. Bethune had immediately taken a liking to Height and appointed her to the resolutions committee of the National Council of Negro Women. Bethune inspired height to fight for women’s rights as hard as she would fight for blacks rights. This desire led her to integrate of all the YWCA centers in 1946. By 1957 she has assumed presidency of

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