Civil Rights Leader Dorothy Height Dies At 98

April 20th, 2010 - 9:16 pm ICT by GD  

By Meena Kar
dorothyWashington, Apr 20, (THAINDIAN NEWS) Dorothy Height the famous U.S. civil rights activist breathed her last on Tuesday. 98 year-old Dorothy Height died in the Howard University Hospital of natural causes reportedly. She had held the most important position in the U.S. civil rights organization and had received many awards and recognitions in her life time for her contribution in the field of U.S. civil rights.

She had back in 1950s and 1960s remained one of the leading faces of the civil rights organization. She was trained as a social worker and started her career as Civil Rights and gender equality advocate in 1930. New York’s Times Square in 1930s witnessed the teenage Dorothy Height shout “Stop the lynching”. She had worked towards reforming the criminal justice system of United States and also for the free access to public accommodation in the United States movement. Dorothy Height became the President of the National Council of Negro Women in 1957 and worked in the position for the next 40 years. At the age of 85, in 1997 Dorothy Height unburdened herself of the duty that came with the position and remained the chairman of the group. Activist C. Delores Tucker had once mentioned to the media that Dorothy Height is an icon to all African-American women. In 1994, President Bill Clinton honored Dorothy Height with the highly esteemed Presidential Medal of Freedom Award.

The death of Dorothy leads to the end of another era of the Civil Rights movement. Remembering Dorothy Height after her death, one of the media source has mentioned that she was one of the most influential woman at the top of Civil Rights leadership but she had never craved for media attention and instant recognition.

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