Google bears a new doodle today, March 24, honoring the 102nd birthday of Dorothy Irene Height. The simple and striking design located in the middle of Google’s homepage pays homage to a woman that should be remembered for a variety of reason, but mainly due to her work with African-American women in a bid to combat illiteracy and unemployment in the community. Height died on April 20, 2010 at age 98, after years of service and bravery, she is credited with bridging the gap between the Civil Rights and Feminist movements. While many may know the generic version of her life and activism, we have gathered up some more inspiring and unknown facts about the inspiring figure to celebrate her life and work alongside her beautiful Google doodle.
After her death in 2010, President Obama delivered a beautiful eulogy, in which he called her the “godmother of the civil rights movement.” This was not the first time the US president had honored her, Height served as the chairperson of the Executive Committee of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, despite the rambling title, her involvement only furthered the largest civil rights organization in America. Due to this prestigious position, Height was an honored guest at the inauguration of Barack Obama in January of 2009, and according to NBC was seated prominently on stage.
Before her life’s work as a civil rights and women's rights activist, Height was born in 1912 in Virginia, she then moved to Rankin, Pennsylvania where she graduated from Rankin High School in 1929. Despite her humble upbringing in the steel town suburbs of Pittsburgh, Height received a scholarship from the Elks that aided her with the price of college tuition. She was accepted to Barnard College after her high school graduation and made the trip to New York City, however once she arrived she was denied admission due to a racial quota. Barnard had an unwritten policy of admitting two black student per year, but instead of giving up in the face of such distasteful adversity. Height took her intelligence and trailblazer attitude to a nearby institution, Height earned a degree from NYU in 1932 and even went on to earn a master’s degree in educational psychology the next year.
In 1957, Height secured her rightful place at the forefront of the civil rights movement and became the president of the National Council of Negro Women. At only 25 years old, Height revealed in her memoirs that she alone was normally the only women that gained access to high-level discussion with the civil rights leaders of history. Height was so influential that she even was seated on staged behind Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., when he delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech, according to Time. She continued her work with both civil rights and feminism, organizing “Wednesdays in Mississippi” which brought together both black and white women from the North and the South in an attempt to create a dialogue of understanding, the idea and result was groundbreaking for the time.
Height’s passion for activism never wavered, she served as the president for the NCNW, a post she secured at age 25, for over 40 years. In 1994 she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton, and then in 2004 she received the Congressional Gold Medal. Here accolades seemingly endless, the honorary Google doodle is only just another token of admiration from an entirely new generation.
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