Washington post office named after Dorothy Height

by Clutch Magazine |
On the death of Dorothy Height…@BarackObama: Today we lost the godmother of the civil rights movement, Dr. Dorothy Height, who devoted her life to those struggling for equality.

By Liane Membis
Clutch Magazine

On Wednesday, President Barack Obama signed the H.R. 6118 bill, which gave the United States Postal Service office on Massachusetts Avenue in Washington D.C. a new name: the Dorothy I. Height Post Office.

Height, who passed away this past April at the age of 98, was one of the most significant civil rights leaders of her time. Height served as chair Emerita of the National Council of Negro Women and as the 10th National President for Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. Height worked relentlessly to secure equality for blacks, women, and the poor while working to desegregate the YWCA.

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She met with President Obama more than a dozen times before she passed and conversed with him about the health care reform bill. Obama delivered a eulogy at her funeral.

“Dr. Dorothy Height deserves a place in this pantheon,” Obama had said, referring to those African-American leaders whose histories are taught in schools. “She, too, deserves a place in our history books. She, too, deserves a place of honor in America’s memory.”

Height graduated from New York University in 1932 and would advise presidents throughout her lifetime—everyone from Eisenhower to Obama.

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