Bill Text: GA HR2192 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Height, Ms. Dorothy Irene; condolences
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)
Status: (Passed) 2010-04-27 - House Read and Adopted [HR2192 Detail]
Download: Georgia-2009-HR2192-Introduced.html
10 LC 94
3475
House
Resolution 2192
By:
Representatives Brooks of the
63rd,
Abdul-Salaam of the
74th,
Beasley-Teague of the
65th,
Abrams of the
84th,
Morgan of the
39th,
and others
A
RESOLUTION
Honoring
the life and memory of Ms. Dorothy Irene Height; and for other
purposes.
WHEREAS,
the State of Georgia and this country mourns the loss of one of this nation's
great Civil Rights leaders with the passing of Ms. Dorothy Irene Height on April
20, 2010; and
WHEREAS,
Ms. Height was born on March 24, 1912, in Richmond, Virginia, the beloved
daughter of James and Fannie Burroughs Height; and
WHEREAS,
she was the unheralded seventh member of the "Big Six" Civil Rights leaders,
working alongside Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., James Farmer, John
Lewis, A. Phillip Randolph, Roy Wilkins, and Whitney M. Young, Jr., on projects
of national significance; and
WHEREAS,
Ms. Height was admitted to Barnard College in 1929 but was turned away from
enrolling in courses because the school had reached its quota for African
American students for the year; and
WHEREAS,
she went on to earn a bachelor's degree in education and a master's degree in
psychology from New York University; and
WHEREAS,
one of the chief organizers of the March on Washington, Ms. Height sat on the
platform just feet away from Dr. King as he delivered his world-changing "I Have
a Dream" speech in 1963; and
WHEREAS,
a prize winning orator, Ms. Height was not asked to speak at the March on
Washington rally, a subject she addressed in her memoir,
Open Wide the Freedom
Gates, which provided a poignant look at
African American history during the Civil Rights era; and
WHEREAS,
Ms. Height served as the President of the National Council of Negro Women from
1957 to 1997, instituting a variety of social programs in the Deep South during
the years of the Civil Rights movement, including the pig bank in which poor
black families were given a pig; and
WHEREAS,
during the mid-1980's, Ms. Height established the Black Family Reunions program
with the council, in which large, celebratory gatherings were held in cities
across the country devoted to the history, traditions, and culture of African
Americans; and
WHEREAS,
this Civil Rights icon was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by
President Bill Clinton in 1994 and a Congressional Gold Medal from President
George W. Bush in 2004; and
WHEREAS,
known by many as the godmother of the Civil Rights movement, Ms. Height was an
American hero and a great defender of equality, and her legacy and influence
will live for generations to come.
NOW,
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES that the members of
this body join in honoring the life and memory of Ms. Dorothy Irene Height and
express their deepest and most sincere regret at her passing.
BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Clerk of the House of Representatives is authorized
and directed to transmit an appropriate copy of this resolution to the family of
Ms. Dorothy Irene Height.
