On the recordApril 21, 2010
I had the privilege of knowing Dr. Height for at least 50 years. She and my mother, as well as Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, were very good friends. They were all active participants in the National Council of Negro Women. In the early 1950s, I would come to Washington, D.C., with my mother to attend those meetings. It was Dorothy Height and Mary McLeod Bethune who opened up the Willard Hotel for the women to have their convention. At that time, hotels in D.C. were segregated, and it was Dr. Height who helped open up the Willard Hotel for that purpose. At that time, she was helping to build the organization on behalf of Dr. Bethune, who was beginning to fail. When I came to Congress 6 years ago, I brought with me a picture of the organization that was taken in 1942. I went over and presented it to Dorothy Height. She immediately recognized the picture and told me that it was taken in front of the Department of Labor in 1942. When I asked her where she was in the picture, Dr. Height told me, Well, honey, I was inside, doing the work of the organization while the members were outside, taking the picture. This was a lifetime of service to the American people and to African American women.
