Social Reformer. Founding matriarch of the civil rights movement. Key figure in the struggles for school desegregation, voting rights, employment opportunities and public accommodations. Ms. Height was the president of the National Council of Negro Women for 40 years. In the 1940s, she lobbied first lady Eleanor Roosevelt on behalf of civil rights causes. In the 1950s, she persuaded President Dwight D. Eisenhower to move more aggressively on school desegregation issues. In 1994, President Bill Clinton awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. Ms. Height spent six decades working for civil and women's rights. "If the times aren't ripe, you have to ripen the times," she liked to say.
Social Reformer. Founding matriarch of the civil rights movement. Key figure in the struggles for school desegregation, voting rights, employment opportunities and public accommodations. Ms. Height was the president of the National Council of Negro Women for 40 years. In the 1940s, she lobbied first lady Eleanor Roosevelt on behalf of civil rights causes. In the 1950s, she persuaded President Dwight D. Eisenhower to move more aggressively on school desegregation issues. In 1994, President Bill Clinton awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. Ms. Height spent six decades working for civil and women's rights. "If the times aren't ripe, you have to ripen the times," she liked to say.
Bio by: Jane Hatch
Advertisement
See more Height memorials in:
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
