Like many young women before me, I vividly recall the day I met Dr. Dorothy Height in March 2004. She was wearing one of her signature hats and a gorgeous purple suit – chosen, she said, because she was proud to wear the color of the suffragist movement.
Height’s impact on me was great, and I was deeply saddened by her passing on Tuesday at age 98. Mentored by Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary McLeod Bethune, Height embraced activism early, becoming a leader of Delta Sigma Theta, the YWCA and president of the National Council of Negro Women. She celebrated the election of President Obama and remained a treasured voice for equal opportunity and education.
Height had been invited to speak and sign copies of her book, “Open Wide the Freedom Gates.” I had heard of her, of course, in college women’s history classes, where I had trained to be high school teacher. But while she stood beside Martin Luther King Jr. in countless forums and marches, and was the only female voice heard on that iconic day in 1963 when he delivered the “I Have a Dream” speech, Height was barely a footnote in our textbooks.
The full shock of that fact became increasingly apparent as I read her memoir, which I couldn’t put down. It made me realize that I had literally touched history by meeting her. I later bought additional copies to send to all the women in my family.
She was so inspiring to women like me who believed – and still do – that the role of women in American life must not be undervalued. She encouraged all of us that, with every movement, the women’s voice must be included.