Congressional Gold Medal Award for Dorothy Height in Washington DC

    Dr. Dorothy I. Height was recently presented with the Congressional Gold Medal in Washington DC. in recognition of her great service to the nation. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke at the ceremony. The ceremony took place in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol and coincided with Dr. Height's 92nd Birthday.

 

Senator Clinton extends a shaking hand to President Goerge W. Bush (sitting). Award Recipient, Dr. Height looks on.

A FEW LINES ABOUT DR. DOROTHY HEIGHT:

Dr. Height has labored to provide hope for children and their families living in impoverished urban areas, and she is responsible for many of the advances made by women and African Americans over the course of the last century.

 

Dr. Height was the only female member of the ''Big Six '' civil rights leaders, which included Whitney Young, A. Phillip Randolph, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., James Farmer, and Roy Wilkins, while strategies were developed for the civil rights movement. She was a valued consultant on human and civil rights issues to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and she encouraged President Eisenhower to desegregate the Nation's schools and President Johnson to appoint African-American women to sub-Cabinet posts. 

 

Dr. Height has been President of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) since 1957, a position to which she was appointed upon the retirement of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune. NCNW is currently the umbrella organization for 250 local groups and 38 national groups engaged in economic development and other issues of special concern to women. Dr. Height has also been at the forefront of AIDS education, both nationally and internationally, and under her direction, NCNW established offices in West Africa and South Africa and worked to improve the conditions of women throughout Africa and the world.


Dr. Height has also been central to the success of 2 two other influential women's organizations, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA). Specifically, as president and executive board member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Dr. Height left the sorority more efficient and globally focused with a centralized headquarters. Her work with the (YWCA) led to its integration and more active participation in the civil rights movement.

She has received innumerable awards for her tireless efforts, including the Medal of Freedom from President Bill Clinton in 1994.

AWARD REMARKS: Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton delivers her speech during the awards. READ COMPLETE REMARKS 

   WHAT IT IS ALL ABOUT: Since the American Revolution, Congress has commissioned gold medals as its highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions. Each medal honors a particular individual, institution, or event. Although the first recipients included citizens who participated in the American Revolution, the War of 1812 and the Mexican War, Congress broadened the scope of the medal to include actors, authors, entertainers, musicians, pioneers in aeronautics and space, explorers, lifesavers, notables in science and medicine, athletes, humanitarians, public servants, and foreign recipients. Previous awarded include such diverse individuals as Sir Winston Churchill, Bob Hope, George Washington, Robert Frost, Joe Louis and Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

 In addition to the requirement that all Congressional Gold Medal legislation must be cosponsored by at least two-thirds (290) of the Members of the House, specific standards are set forth by Rule VII (c)(vii) of the House Committee on Banking and Financial Services' Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy when considering such legislation. Additionally, the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee require that at least 67 Senators must cosponsor any Congressional Gold Medal legislation before the committee will consider it. 

GROUP PHOTO: Dr. Dorothy Height in a group photo with friends and members of Congress including Senator Hillary Clinton

 

Dr. Height, still actively fighting for justice for all Americans at the age of 91, is recognized as one of the preeminent social and civil rights activists of our time, particularly in the struggle for equality, social justice and human rights for all peoples. Her public career spans over 65 years. Beginning as a civil rights advocate in the 1930s, she soon gained prominence through her tireless efforts to promote integration in education, to register and educate voters, and to increase the visibility and status of women in our society. 

 

MORE ON DR. DOROTHY HEIGHT

 

SENATOR HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON'S REMARKS

Remarks of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
Dorothy I. Height Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony
March 24, 2004

Senator hillary ClintonMr. President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the House and Senate, ladies and gentlemen and especially friends, admirers and fans of the one and only Dr. Dorothy Height. We are here today to honor a truly great American, someone who has long been an inspiration of mine. Dating back to the first time I met her more than thirty years ago when she was in fact one of my bosses - on the Board of the Children's Defense Fund where I worked and then served on the board with Marian Wright Edelman for many years. And just as in those long ago days, today once again, Dr Height is the best dressed woman in the entire room. 

I have had few greater pleasures than the work I did on this resolution - going to my colleagues one by one to ask them to support this resolution and no one said "no". Person after person said "oh yes, I remember Dr. Height" or "I worked with Dr. Height" or "Dr. Height came to lobby me". 

And it is fitting that it is a Wednesday because we do remember that during the height of the civil rights movement, it was Dr. Height who organized "Wednesdays in Mississippi". These meetings were meant to encourage dialogue and they included women, black and white, from the north and south - and under her tutelage and encouragement, these women reached a cross of barriers of race, beyond the segregation that they each had lived with, to find common ground. And it is fitting that we honor someone who has always sought that common ground. She broke a lot of barriers. She was one of the original "Big 6" civil rights leaders and the only woman. When the men sat down at the table, Dorothy Height was there. And I wish we could have all been in that room, flies on the wall as she spoke with Whitney Young, A. Phillip Randolph, Dr. Martin Luther King, James Farmer and Roy Wilkins. And in my conversations with many of you in this audience this afternoon, I know that her steady loving influence had a great impact on our march for equality in this nation.

She came to that out of a childhood and youth where she did see our nation divided. Where she saw many denied the opportunity to live up to their God given potential and she knew in her heart and soul, that our nation would be stronger if all God's children were given the chance to improve their lives and to seek their own dreams and to live up to their aspirations and so she set about to make that happen. 

It reminds me of something she once said about children. With the same wisdom, clarity and understanding that has always defined her, Dr. Height said, "we've got to work to save our children and do it with full respect for the fact that if we do not, then no one else is going to do it". Dr. Height - you have helped people of all ages, especially children, to tackle the obstacles in life with that refrain "if we don't do it, no one else will".

So today we honor a hero. A hero of the civil rights movement, a hero of the women's movement, a hero on behalf of African Americans and particularly the black family reunion movement, a woman who embodies everything that makes our nation great. We do this today in some small measure to thank you for a life of service and dedication and to recognize that we are all richer and better because Dr. Dorothy Height passed our way. 

God bless you. 

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