Dorothy Height, an unsung hero of the civil rights and feminist movement, will be recognized as a part of the U.S. Postal Service’s 2017 collection of “Forever” stamps, the Huffington Post reports.
Height’s civil rights activism began in the 1930s with protests in Harlem, according to a 2010 Washington Post obituary that honored her legacy when she died at age 98.
In the 1940s, she lobbied first lady Eleanor Roosevelt on civil rights issues, and discussed school integration with President Dwight Eisenhower in the 1950s. President Bill Clinton presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994.
Height helped organize the iconic March on Washington and stood on the platform with Dr. Martin Luther King when he delivered his I Have a Dream speech, and worked closely with civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.).
“Although she rarely gained the recognition granted her male contemporaries, she became one of the most influential civil rights leaders of the 20th century,” the Postal Service observed.
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She was also instrumental in the feminist movement, helping to launch the National Women’s Political Caucus with Gloria Steinem and Shirley Chisholm, as well as served as chairwoman of the National Council of Negro Women.
From 1947 to 1956, Height was the president of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority. She’s credited with overseeing the purchase of the sorority’s first national headquarters building and training a generation of African-American female leaders and activists.
In creating a commemorative stamp in Height’s honor, she joins 14 other iconic African-American women in the Black Heritage series, a group that includes Harriet Tubman and Marian Anderson.
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Postal Service Creates Stamp Honoring Civil Rights, Feminist Activist Dorothy Height was originally published on newsone.com
