UNCOMMON HEIGHT
501(c)3
Organzation
501(c)3
Organzation
AN UNCOMMON HEIGHT
JUST TWO YEARS SHY OF BECOMING A CENTENARIAN, DR. DOROTHY IRENE HEIGHT DIED ON APRIL 20 OF NATURAL CAUSES LEAVING 6 MILLION WOMEN TO MOURN HER AND LEAVING A LEGACY THAT EQUALS THAT OF HER MENTOR, MARY McLEOD BETHUNE. DR. HEIGHT DEVOTED HER LIFE TO SERVICE, PRINCIPALLY IN THE WORK OF THE YWCA AND THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF NEGRO WOMEN. LIKE BETHUNE, SHE LED IN THE COMPANY OF GREATS LIKE MARTIN LUTHER KING, THURGOOD MARSHALL AND OTHERS, BUT BECAUSE SHE WAS A WOMAN, SHE WAS NEVER GIVEN THE SAME COVERAGE.SHE CAME TO THE INLAND EMPIRE MANY TIMES; SHE LOVED US AND WE RETURNED THE LOVE.HER FIRST VISIT WAS FOR THE FIRST BETHUNE RECOGNITION PROGRAM IN 1979 SPONSORED BY TWO SECTIONS: INLAND EMPIRE AND RIVERSIDE; BY 1990 THERE WERE SIX SECTIONS SPONSORING THE EVENT. DR. HEIGHT LOVED CHECKMATES, OUR FIRST YOUTH PROGRAM AND ASKED AS RECENTLY AS LAST DECEMBER FOR US TO WRITE UP THE MODEL SO SHE COULD SEE ABOUT STARTING A NEW MODEL.
WHEN THE INLAND EMPIRE SECTION WAS SELECTED AS ONE OF FIVE SITES ACROSS THE US TO LAUNCH A PILOT CALLED "CREATIVE CAREERS FOR YOUTH", DR HEIGHT WAS FETED IN THE HOME OF THEN SAN BERNARDINO MAYOR BOB HOLCOMB AND HIS WIFE PENNY. THE MAYOR WAS VERY PROUD THAT SAN BERNARDINO HAD BEEN SELECTED AND DR. HEIGHT WAS IMPRESSED WITH THE QUALITY OF WOMEN LEADING THE SECTION. OUR DIRECTOR OF THE MODEL PROGRAM WAS OUR CURRENT CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLY MEMBER AND NCNW MEMBER, WILMA AMINA CARTER, A GREAT EXAMPLE OF WHAT DR. HEIGHT FOUND HERE. SHE EVEN REFERRED TO US AS "MY GIRLS". AFTER VISITING IN RIVERSIDE, MORENO VALLEY AND VICTORVILLE AND SHE SIMPLY FELL IN LOVE WITH OUR SUCCESSFUL BETHUNE YOUTH CENTER IN RIALTO.
DR. HEIGHT WAS THE FIRST BLACK SOCIAL WORKER IN NEW YORK AND AS DIRECTOR OF THE HARLEM BRANCH OF THE YWCA, SHE MET BOTH DR. BETHUNE WHO HOSTED THE ORGANIZATION OF THE NCNW THERE AND ASKED THE YOUNG DIRECTOR TO ESCORT ELEANOR ROOSEVELT INTO THE MEETING WHEN SHE ARRIVED AND DR. HEIGHT HAS BEEN "IN THE MEETING SINCE THEN, GIVING 40 YEARS AS PRESIDENT TO THE 75 YEAR OLD ORGANIZATION.
LOIS CARSON HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF SERVING AS VICE PRESIDENT OF THE NCNW AND TRAVELED TO AFRICA TWICE WITH DR. HEIGHT, FIRST SENEGAL, TOGO AND WEST AFRICA IN 1980 AND LATER TO EGYPT AND OTHER PARTS OF NORTHERN AFRICA IN 1988. SHE WAS AT THE " SUMMIT OF PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT", WHICH WAS HELD IN GHANA WITH
DR. LEON SULLIVAN, FOUNDER OF OF OIC IN 2002.
ALL OF THE MEMBERS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE SECTION WILL DEEPLY MISS DR HEIGHT WHO WAS ACTIVE AND ON POINT ALWAYS, AND WE, THE WOMEN OF THE INLAND EMPIRE SECTION, WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER THE LOVE AFFAIR WE HAD WITH OUR LEADER, DR. DOROTHY IRENE HEIGHT.