Obama Eulogizes Civil Rights Leader Dorothy Height

29 April 2010

President Obama walks past casket of Dorothy Height during funeral services in Washington, 29 Apr 2010

President Barack Obama eulogized U.S. civil rights leader Dorothy Height on Thursday as a history-making figure in "a righteous cause." The president spoke at the funeral for Height, who died last week at the age of 98.

He told hundreds of moruners who filled the the massive Washington National Cathedral that Height should be associated with other American civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and W.E.B. DuBois. "There are giants who fill our history books. Well, Dr. Dorothy Height deserves a place in this pantheon. She, too, deserves a place in our history books. She, too, deserves a place of honor in America's memory," he said.

As a young social worker, Dorothy Height helped New York City resolve the 1935 Harlem Riots, and she helped organize protests against lynching, the killing of African Americans, usually by white mobs.

Later, she worked alongside Martin Luther King, Jr. and other leaders at the forefront of the civil rights movement, seeking equality for women as well as for African Americans.

Height led the National Council of Negro Women for more than 40 years, working on issues affecting African American women and families, such as health, education and economic matters, as well as basic civil rights.