Dorothy HeightHeight in 2008BornDorothy Irene Height(1912-03-24)March 24, 1912Richmond, Virginia, U.S.DiedApril 20, 2010(2010-04-20) (aged 98)Washington, D.C., U.S.EducationNew York University (BA, MA)Columbia University
Dorothy Irene Height (March 24, 1912 – April 20, 2010) was an African-American civil rights and women's rights activist.[1] She focused on the issues of African-American women, including unemployment, illiteracy, and voter awareness.[2] Height is credited as the first leader in the civil rights movement to recognize inequality for women and African Americans as problems that should be considered as a whole.[3] She was the president of the National Council of Negro Women for 40 years.[4] Height's role in the "Big Six" civil rights movement was frequently ignored by the press due to sexism. In 1974, she was named to the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behioral Research, which published the Belmont Report, a bioethics report in response to the infamous Tuskegee Syphilis Study.
Early life and education[edit]Dorothy Height was born in Richmond, Virginia, on March 24, 1912.[5] When she was five years old, she moved with her family to Mckees Rocks Rankin, Pennsylvania, a steel town in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, where she attended racially integrated schools. Height's mother was active in the Pennsylvania Federation of Colored Women's Clubs and regularly took Dorothy along to meetings where she established her "place in the sisterhood".[6]
Height's long association with the YWCA began in a Girl Reserve Club in Rankin organized under the auspices of the Pittsburgh YWCA. An enthusiastic participant, who was soon elected president of the club, Height was appalled to learn that her race barred her from swimming in the pool at the central YWCA branch. Though her arguments could not bring about a change in policy in 1920's Pittsburgh, Height later dedicated much of her professional energy to bringing profound change to the YWCA.[6]
While in high school, Height became socially and politically active in anti-lynching movement.[7] A talented orator, she won first place and a $1,000 scholarship at a national oratory contest held by the Elks.[8] Height graduated from Rankin High School in 1929.[9]
She was accepted to Barnard College of Columbia University in 1929, but was denied entrance because the school had an unwritten policy of admitting only two black students per year.[10] She enrolled instead at New York University, earning an undergraduate degree in 1932 and a master's degree in educational psychology the following year.[11] She pursued further postgraduate work at Columbia University and the New York School of Social Work (the predecessor of the Columbia University School of Social Work).[12]
Her impact[edit] Height (pictured right) with Eleanor Roosevelt, 1960From 1934 to 1937, Height worked in the New York City Department of Welfare, an experience she credited with teaching her the skills to deal with conflict without intensifying it.[citation needed] From there she moved to a job as a counselor at the YWCA of New York City, Harlem Branch, in the fall of 1937. Soon after joining the staff there, Height met Mary McLeod Bethune and Eleanor Roosevelt at a meeting of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) held at the YWCA. In her 2003 memoir, Height described the meeting: "On that fall day the redoubtable Mary McLeod Bethune put her hand on me. She drew me into her dazzling orbit of people in power and people in poverty…. 'The freedom gates are half ajar,' she said. 'We must pry them fully open.' I he been committed to the calling ever since."[13] The following year, Height served as acting director of the YWCA of New York City's Emma Ransom House residence. In addition to her YWCA and NCNW work, Height was also very active in the United Christian Youth Movement, a group intensely interested in relating faith to real-world problems.[6]
In 1939, Height went to Washington, D.C., to be executive of the Phyllis Wheatley Branch of the DC YWCA. In the fall of 1944, she returned to New York City to join the YWCA national staff, joining the program staff with "special responsibility" in the field of Interracial Relations. This work included training activities, writing, and working with the Public Affairs committee on race issues where her "insight into the attitude and feeling of both white and negro people [was] heily counted on". It was during this period that the YWCA adopted its Interracial Charter (1946), which not only pledged to work towards an interracial experience within the YWCA, but also to fight against injustice on the basis of race, "whether in the community, the nation or the world". Convinced that segregation causes prejudice through estrangement, Height facilitated meetings, ran workshops, and wrote articles and pamphlets aimed at helping white YWCA members transcend their fears and bring their daily activities in line with the association's principles.[6]
Height was an active member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority, throughout her life, developing leadership training programs and ecumenical education programs.[13] She was initiated at the Rho chapter at Columbia University, and served as national president of the sorority from 1947 to 1956.[13] In 1950, Height moved to the Training Services department where she focused primarily on professional training for YWCA staff. She spent the fall of 1952 in India as a visiting professor at the Delhi School of Social Work, then returned to her training work in New York City.[6] Height participated in the Liberia Watch Program and worked within the ranks of leadership in 1955.[14]
In 1963, the increasing momentum of the civil rights movement prompted the YWCA's National Board to allocate funds to launch a country-wide "Action Program for Integration and Desegregation of Community YWCAs". Height took lee from her position as associate director for Training to head this two-year Action Program. At the end of that period, the National Board adopted a proposal to accelerate the work "in going beyond token integration and making a bold assault on all aspects of racial segregation". It established an Office of racial integration (renamed Office of Racial Justice in 1969) as part of the Executive Office. In her role as its first director, Height helped to monitor the association's progress toward full integration, kept abreast of the civil rights movement, facilitated "honest dialogue", aided the Association in making best use of its African-American leadership (both volunteer and staff), and helped in their recruitment and retention. Shortly before she retired from the YWCA in 1977, Height was elected as an honorary national board member, a lifetime appointment.[6]
In 1958, Height became President of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) and remained in that position until 1990. While working with both the YWCA and NCNW, Height participated in the Civil Rights Movement and she was considered a member of the "Big Six" (a group with up to nine members, including Martin Luther King Jr., James Farmer, John Lewis, A. Philip Randolph, Roy Wilkins, and Whitney Young). In his autobiography, civil rights leader James Farmer noted that Height's role in the "Big Six" was frequently ignored by the press due to sexism.[15] During the Civil Rights Movement, she organized Wednesdays in Mississippi with Polly Spiegel Cowan, which brought together black and white women from the North and South to work against segregation.[16] Height's background as a prize-winning orator allowed her to serve as an effective middleman through creating a dialogue of understanding between unfamiliar parties. Though Height was not called upon to speak at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, she served as one of the chief organizers for the gathering, becoming a key part in the demonstration's success.[17] Height also acted as an ambassador for the lone women's organization during the event.[3] Additionally, Height developed many international volunteer programs with the NCNW in Asia, Africa, Europe, and South America.[6]
Dorothy Height photographed by Lynn GilbertIn the mid-1960s, she wrote a column called "A Woman's Word" for the weekly African-American newspaper the New York Amsterdam News.[18]
In 1974, she was named to the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behioral Research, which published the Belmont Report a response to the infamous "Tuskegee Syphilis Study" and an international ethical touchstone for researchers to this day.[19] Height was the driving force in the campaign to erect a statue in honor of Mary McLeod Bethune in Lincoln Park, Washington, D.C. The monument was the first statue dedicated to either a woman or an African-American person to be erected on federal land. At the July 1974 unveiling of the Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial, which had an attendance of more than eighteen thousand people, Height stated that the statue represented the awakening appreciation for the contributions of racial minorities and women within the United States, which was best represented by a Black woman.[20]
Height with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 2009 Later life[edit]In 1990, Height, along with 15 other African Americans, formed the African-American Women for Reproductive Freedom.[21] Height received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Bill Clinton in 1994. Height's 90th-birthday celebration in 2002 raised five million dollars towards funding the NCNW's mortgage on their Washington, D.C., headquarters, the Dorothy I. Height Building. Two notable donors were Don King and Oprah Winfrey.[7] Height was recognized by Barnard for her achievements as an honorary alumna during the college's commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 2004.[10]
She was also well known for her hats and hat collection, many of them made by a Black Washington, D.C., milliner, Vanilla Beane, one of which was featured on Height's USPS stamp.[22][23] Portions of her hat collection he been shown in museums.[24]
The musical stage play If This Hat Could Talk, based on her memoirs Open Wide The Freedom Gates, debuted in 2005. The work showcases her unique perspective on the civil rights movement and details many of the behind-the-scenes figures and mentors who shaped her life, including Mary McLeod Bethune and Eleanor Roosevelt.
The Dorothy I. Height Building, headquarters of the National Council of Negro Women, located on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C.President Barack Obama called Height "the godmother of the civil rights movement and a hero to so many Americans".[25] She attended the National Black Family Reunion on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., every year until her death in 2010.[26] Height was the chairperson of the executive committee of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, an umbrella group of American civil rights interest groups, until her death in 2010. She was an honored guest at the inauguration of President Barack Obama on January 20, 2009, and was seated on the stage.[4]
Death[edit]On March 25, 2010, Height was admitted to Howard University Hospital in Washington, D.C., for unspecified reasons and under protest, because she had pending speaking arrangements.[27] She died less than four weeks later, on April 20, 2010, at the age of 98. President Barack Obama delivered the eulogy for her funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral on April 29, 2010, which was attended by many other dignitaries and notable people.[28] She was later buried at Fort Lincoln Cemetery in Colmar Manor, Maryland.[29]
Shortly after Height's death, congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton and Mayor Vincent Gray encouraged the U.S. Postal Service to name D.C.'s former main post office the Dorothy I. Height Post Office. This honor made Height the only African-American woman to he a federal facility in Washington, D.C., named after her.[27]
Awards, honors, and medals[edit] William L. Dawson Award, Congressional Black Caucus (1974)[30] George Collins Award, Congressional Black Caucus (1986)[30][31] Candace Award for Distinguished Service, National Coalition of 100 Black Women (1986)[32] Presidential Citizens Medal (1989) Spingarn Medal from the NAACP (1993) Franklin Delano Roosevelt Freedom From Want Award (1993) inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame (1993) Presidential Medal of Freedom (1994)[4] 7th Annual Heinz Award Chairman's Medal (2001)[33] National Jefferson Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged (2001)[34] Listed on Molefi Kete Asante's list of 100 Greatest African Americans (2002)[35] Congressional Gold Medal by President George W. Bush on behalf of the United States Congress (Approved 2003, awarded 2004)[4] One of the 34 honors on The Extra Mile Memorial in Washington, D.C. (2005) 2009 Foremothers Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Center for Health Research[36] The Benning / Dorothy I. Height Neighborhood Library, which opened in April 2010, is named in her honor.[37] Upon her death, President Barack Obama ordered flags to be flown at half-mast on April 29, 2010, in her honor. On May 21, 2010, a callbox was dedicated to Height. It is located on 7th Street, SW, in front of the last building in which she lived.[38] On March 24, 2014, in celebration of the 102nd anniversary of her birthday, Google featured a doodle with a portrait of Ms. Height above protestors marching with signs.[39][40][41] November 2016, honored with a 2017 United States Postage Stamp, the 40th stamp in the Black Heritage Forever series. The painting of Height is based on a 2009 photograph shot by Lateef Mangum.[42]"I want to be remembered as someone who used herself and anything she could touch to work for justice and freedom. I want to be remembered as one who tried." – Dorothy Height
References[edit] ^ Grant, Lyndia (April 29, 2010). "Uncommon Height". Washington Informer. ^ "Dorothy Height". Biography. April 2021. ^ a b "Dorothy I. Height". www.nps.gov. National Park Service. Retrieved May 25, 2019. ^ a b c d Iovino, Jim (April 20, 2010). "Civil Rights Icon Dorothy Height Dies at 98". NBC Universal. Retrieved April 20, 2010. ^ "Dr. Dorothy Height Biography". Dr. Dorothy Height Biography. Retrieved December 26, 2021. ^ a b c d e f g "Collection: Dorothy Irene Height papers, Smith College Finding Aids". findingaids.smith.edu. Retrieved June 29, 2020. This article incorporates text ailable under the CC BY 3.0 license. ^ a b Skutch, Jan. "Civil rights leader, beacon for black women Dorothy Height dies". Sannah Morning News. Retrieved May 25, 2019. ^ Hine, Darlene Clark, William C. Hine, and Stanley Harrold. "Chapter 21". The African-American Odyssey Combined Edition. 5th edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, 2010. 596. Web. ^ "Dorothy I. Height (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved November 1, 2023. ^ a b "Civil Rights Pioneer Honor 75 years after rejection Barnard College recognizes woman the school once barred because of admission limit for blacks". Newsday. June 4, 2004. p. A22. ^ "Dorothy Height was educator and activist organizer". Post-Tribune. February 16, 2003. p. A2. Archived from the original on October 29, 2014. Retrieved April 20, 2010. ^ Dr. Dorothy I. Height: Chair and President Emerita, National Council of Negro Women Archived June 18, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, National Council of Negro Women. 75th Anniversary. Retrieved May 29, 2012. ^ a b c Height, Dorothy (2003). Open Wide the Freedom Gates: A Memoir. New York: PublicAffairs Press. ISBN 978-1-58648-286-2. ^ Edelman, Marian (March 30, 2006). "Dorothy Height broadens our horizon". New York Beacon. ^ Farmer, James (1998). Lay Bare the Heart. Fort Worth: Texas Christian University Press. p. 215. ISBN 9780875651880. Retrieved September 22, 2014. – Article on book: Lay Bare the Heart ^ Evans, Ben (April 20, 2010). "Dorothy Height, civil rights activist, dies at 98". Associated Press. Archived from the original on April 24, 2010. Retrieved April 20, 2010. ^ Owens, Donna M. (August 23, 2023). "The March on Washington's core ideas resonate 60 years later". NBC News. Retrieved August 23, 2023. ^ Height, Dorothy (March 20, 1965). "A Woman's World" column. New York Amsterdam News, p. 8 ff. ^ "The Belmont Report", U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. ^ Woodley, Jenny (May 17, 2017). ""Ma Is in the Park": Memory, Identity, and the Bethune Memorial". Journal of American Studies. 52 (2): 474–502. doi:10.1017/S0021875817000536. ISSN 0021-8758. S2CID 149358949. ^ Kathryn Cullen-DuPont (August 1, 2000). Encyclopedia of Women's History in America. Info base Publishing. p. 6. ISBN 978-0-8160-4100-8. Retrieved February 4, 2012. ^ Cribb, Betsy (October 7, 2019). "Meet Washington, D.C., Milliner Vanilla Beane". Southern Living. Archived from the original on September 9, 2020. ^ Baker, Damare (October 25, 2022). "Vanilla Beane, DC's Hat Lady, Passes Away at 103". Washingtonian. Retrieved August 24, 2025. ^ "Dorothy Height's Hats – Museum of Fine Arts, St Petersburg". Museum of Fine Arts, St Petersburg. Retrieved October 25, 2022. ^ Fox, Margalit (April 20, 2010). "Dorothy Height, Largely Unsung Giant of the Civil Rights Era, Dies at 98". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 29, 2020. ^ Mr. Michael; Ms. C (2013). Why I Am So Proud to Be a Black Man: The Many Reasons to Uplift and Celebrate Our Uniqueness in the Universe. iUniverse. p. 165. ISBN 978-1475979299. ^ a b "Norton's Black History Month Celebration Unveils Dorothy Height Post Office and Celebrates D.C.'s Congressional Protest in the Dorothy Height Tradition: Rep. Norton, Eleanor Holmes (D -DC) News Release". Congressional Documents and Publications. February 22, 2011. ^ Cooper, Helene (April 29, 2010). "Civil Rights Leader Is Eulogized by Obama". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 29, 2020. ^ "Dorothy I. Height". National Park Service. Washington, D.C.: United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved March 8, 2018. ^ a b Past Phoenix Award Honorees (1996–2018)". https://s7.goeshow.com/cbcf/annual/2020/documents/CBCF_ALC_-_Phoenix_Awards_Dinner_Past_Winners.pdf ^ LENA WILLIAMS (October 6, 1986). "CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS REJOICES IN GROWING STRENGTH". The New York Times (Late City Final ed.). ^ "CANDACE AWARD RECIPIENTS 1982-1990, Page 1". National Coalition of 100 Black Women. Archived from the original on March 14, 2003. ^ "The Heinz Awards :: Dorothy Height". www.heinzawards.net. ^ National Winners Archived November 24, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, Jefferson Awards. ^ Asante, Molefi Kete (2002). 100 Greatest African Americans: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books. ISBN 1-57392-963-8. ^ (2009)"The 2009 Health Policy Heroes and Foremother Awards". Archived May 14, 2011, at the Wayback Machine National Research Center for Women & Families. Retrieved December 5, 2010. ^ "Black History in Your Neighborhood". District of Columbia Public Library. January 31, 2020. Retrieved January 18, 2021. ^ The Southwester, June 2010. ^ Kashmira Gander (March 24, 2014). "Google Doodle US marks Dorothy Irene Height's birthday". The Independent. Retrieved March 25, 2014. ^ Michael Cna (March 24, 2014). "DOROTHY IRENE HEIGHT: 'Godmother of the civil-rights movement' was a portrait in powerful change. Google Doodle salutes her accordingly". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 25, 2014. ^ Charlotte Alter (March 24, 2014). "Google Doodle Honors Dorothy Height, Unsung Leader in Civil Rights and Women's Movements". Time. Retrieved March 25, 2014. ^ "Postal Service showcases more 2017 stamps". about.usps.com. November 22, 2016. Retrieved June 29, 2020. External videos Dorothy Height's funeral service at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., April 29, 2010, C-SPAN Presentation by Height on Open Wide the Freedom Gates: A Memoir at the National Book Festival, October 9, 2004, C-SPANExternal videos Booknotes interview with Height on Open Wide the Freedom Gates: A Memoir, August 3, 2003, C-SPAN "Life and Career of Dorothy Height". July 20, 2001, C-SPAN External videos "Dorothy Height Oral History Interview" for the University of Virginia's "Explorations in Black Leadership" project, December 9, 2003, C-SPAN External videos Booknotes interview with Height on Open Wide the Freedom Gates: A Memoir, August 3, 2003, C-SPAN Presentation by Height on Open Wide the Freedom Gates: A Memoir at the National Book Festival, October 9, 2004, C-SPAN Library resources about Dorothy Height Resources in your library Resources in other libraries By Dorothy Height Online books Resources in your library Resources in other libraries Sources[edit] Height, Dorothy. Open Wide the Freedom Gates: A Memoir. Tracey A. Fitzgerald, The National Council of Negro Women and the Feminist Movement, 1935–1975, Georgetown University Press, 1985. Judith Weisenfeld, "Dorothy Height", Black Women in America: Profiles, New York: Macmillan, 1999, pp. 128–130. Legacy: Black and White in America, a documentary featuring Dorothy Height. Norwood, Arlisha. "Dorothy Height". National Women's History Museum. 2017. Dr. Dorothy I. Height Facebook Page National Council for Science and the Environment Dorothy Height – The Daily Telegraph obituary, April 21, 2010 African Events Congressional Gold Medal Award for Dorothy Height Dorothy Height's oral history video excerpts, The National Visionary Leadership Project Dorothy Height's Videos Legacy: Black and White in America, a documentary featuring Dorothy Height Flag Half-Staff Day Order by President Barack Obama Dorothy Height (1912–2010): Civil Rights Leader Remembered for Lifelong Activism- video report by Democracy Now! Dorothy I. Height, Unsung Heroine External links[edit] Dorothy Irene Height papers at the Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Special Collections Appearances on C-SPAN “ Mother's Day, May 12; Birmingham: Testament of Nonviolence, Part 3 [1 of 2],” 1963-05-12, University of Maryland, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C., accessed June 7, 2021. vteCivil rights movement (1954–1968)Events(timeline)Prior to 1954 Journey of Reconciliation Executive Order 9981 Murders of Harry and Harriette Moore Sweatt v. Painter (1950) McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents (1950) Baton Rouge bus boycott 1954–1959 Brown v. Board of Education Bolling v. Sharpe Briggs v. Elliott Dis v. Prince Edward County Gebhart v. Belton Sarah Keys v. Carolina Coach Company Read's Drug Store sit-in Emmett Till Montgomery bus boycott Browder v. 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Wells-Barnett 1990–19991990 Margaret Bourke-White Barbara Jordan Billie Jean King Florence B. Seibert 1991 Gertrude Belle Elion 1993 Ethel Percy Andrus Antoinette Blackwell Emily Blackwell Shirley Chisholm Jacqueline Cochran Ruth Colvin Marian Wright Edelman Alice Evans Betty Friedan Ella Grasso Martha Wright Griffiths Fannie Lou Hamer Dorothy Height Dolores Huerta Mary Putnam Jacobi Mae Jemison Mary Lyon Mary Mahoney Wilma Mankiller Constance Baker Motley Georgia O'Keeffe Annie Oakley Rosa Parks Esther Peterson Jeannette Rankin Ellen Swallow Richards Elaine Roulet Katherine Siva Saubel Gloria Steinem Helen Stephens Lillian Wald Madam C. J. Walker Faye Wattleton Rosalyn S. Yalow Gloria Yerkovich 1994 Bella Abzug Ella Baker Myra Bradwell Annie Jump Cannon Jane Cunningham Croly Catherine East Geraldine Ferraro Charlotte Perkins Gilman Grace Hopper Helen LaKelly Hunt Zora Neale Hurston Anne Hutchinson Frances Wisebart Jacobs Susette La Flesche Louise McManus Maria Mitchell Antonia Novello Linda Richards Wilma Rudolph Betty Bone Schiess Muriel Siebert Nettie Stevens Oprah Winfrey Sarah Winnemucca Fanny Wright 1995 Virginia Apgar Ann Bancroft Amelia Bloomer Mary Breckinridge Eileen Collins Elizabeth Hanford Dole Anne Dallas Dudley Mary Baker Eddy Ella Fitzgerald Margaret Fuller Matilda Joslyn Gage Lillian Moller Gilbreth Nannerl O. Keohane Maggie Kuhn Sandra Day O'Connor Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin Pat Schroeder Hannah Greenebaum Solomon 1996 Louisa May Alcott Charlotte Anne Bunch Frances Xier Cabrini Mary A. Hallaren Oveta Culp Hobby Wilhelmina Cole Holladay Anne Morrow Lindbergh Maria Goeppert Mayer Ernestine Louise Potowski Rose Maria Tallchief Edith Wharton 1998 Madeleine Albright Maya Angelou Nellie Bly Lydia Moss Bradley Mary Steichen Calderone Mary Ann Shadd Cary Joan Ganz Cooney Gerty Cori Sarah Grimké Julia Ward Howe Shirley Ann Jackson Shannon Lucid Katharine Dexter McCormick Rozanne L. Ridgway Edith Nourse Rogers Felice Schwartz Eunice Kennedy Shriver Beverly Sills Florence Wald Angelina Grimké Weld Chien-Shiung Wu 2000–20092000 Faye Glenn Abdellah Emma Smith DeVoe Marjory Stoneman Douglas Mary Dyer Sylvia A. Earle Crystal Eastman Jeanne Holm Leontine T. Kelly Frances Oldham Kelsey Kate Mullany Janet Reno Anna Howard Shaw Sophia Smith Ida Tarbell Wilma L. Vaught Mary Edwards Walker Annie Dodge Wauneka Eudora Welty Frances E. Willard 2001 Dorothy H. Andersen Lucille Ball Rosalynn Carter Lydia Maria Child Bessie Coleman Dorothy Day Marian de Forest Althea Gibson Beatrice A. Hicks Barbara Holdridge Harriet Williams Russell Strong Emily Howell Warner Victoria Woodhull 2002 Paulina Kellogg Wright Dis Ruth Bader Ginsburg Katharine Graham Bertha Holt Mary Engle Pennington Mercy Otis Warren 2003 Linda G. Alvarado Donna de Varona Gertrude Ederle Martha Matilda Harper Patricia Roberts Harris Stephanie L. Kwolek Dorothea Lange Mildred Robbins Leet Patsy Takemoto Mink Sacagawea Anne Sullivan Sheila E. Widnall 2005 Florence E. Allen Ruth Fulton Benedict Betty Bumpers Hillary Clinton Rita Rossi Colwell Mother Marianne Cope Maya Y. Lin Patricia A. Locke Blanche Stuart Scott Mary Burnett Talbert 2007 Eleanor K. Baum Julia Child Martha Coffin Pelham Wright Swanee Hunt Winona LaDuke Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Judith L. Pipher Catherine Filene Shouse Henrietta Szold 2009 Louise Bourgeois Mildred Cohn Karen DeCrow Susan Kelly-Dreiss Allie B. Latimer Emma Lazarus Ruth Patrick Rebecca Talbot Perkins Susan Solomon Kate Stoneman 2010–20192011 St. Katharine Drexel Dorothy Harrison Eustis Loretta C. Ford Abby Kelley Foster Helen Murray Free Billie Holiday Coretta Scott King Lilly Ledbetter Barbara A. Mikulski Donna E. Shalala Kathrine Switzer 2013 Betty Ford Ina May Gaskin Julie Krone Kate Millett Nancy Pelosi Mary Joseph Rogers Bernice Sandler Anna Schwartz Emma Willard 2015 Tenley Albright Nancy Brinker Martha Graham Marcia Greenberger Barbara Iglewski Jean Kilbourne Carlotta Walls LaNier Philippa Marrack Mary Harriman Rumsey Eleanor Smeal 2017 Matilda Cuomo Temple Grandin Lorraine Hansberry Victoria Jackson Sherry Lansing Clare Boothe Luce Aimee Mullins Carol Mutter Janet Rowley Alice Waters 2019 Gloria Allred Angela Dis Sarah Deer Jane Fonda Nicole Malachowski Rose O'Neill Louise Slaughter Sonia Sotomayor Laurie Spiegel Flossie Wong-Staal 2020–20292020 Aretha Franklin Barbara Hillary Barbara Rose Johns Henrietta Lacks Toni Morrison Mary Church Terrell 2022 Octia E. Butler Judy Chicago Rebecca S. Halstead Mia Hamm Joy Harjo Emily Howland Katherine Johnson Indra Nooyi Michelle Obama 2024 Patricia Bath Ruby Bridges Elouise P. Cobell Kimberlé Crenshaw Peggy McIntosh Judith Plaskow Loretta Ross Sandy Stone Anna Wessels Williams Serena Williams vteSpingarn Medal winners 1915: Ernest Everett Just 1916: Charles Young 1917: Harry Burleigh 1918: William Stanley Braithwaite 1919: Archibald Grimké 1920: W. E. B. Du Bois 1921: Charles Sidney Gilpin 1922: Mary Burnett Talbert 1923: George Washington Carver 1924: Roland Hayes 1925: James Weldon Johnson 1926: Carter G. Woodson 1927: Anthony Overton 1928: Charles W. Chesnutt 1929: Mordecai Wyatt Johnson 1930: Henry A. Hunt 1931: Richard Berry Harrison 1932: Robert Russa Moton 1933: Max Yergan 1934: William T. B. Williams 1935: Mary McLeod Bethune 1936: John Hope 1937: Walter Francis White 1938: no award 1939: Marian Anderson 1940: Louis T. Wright 1941: Richard Wright 1942: A. Philip Randolph 1943: William H. Hastie 1944: Charles R. Drew 1945: Paul Robeson 1946: Thurgood Marshall 1947: Percy Lon Julian 1948: Channing Heggie Tobias 1949: Ralph Bunche 1950: Charles Hamilton Houston 1951: Mabel K. Staupers 1952: Harry T. Moore 1953: Paul R. Williams 1954: Theodore K. Lawless 1955: Carl J. Murphy 1956: Jackie Robinson 1957: Martin Luther King Jr. 1958: Daisy Bates and the Little Rock Nine 1959: Duke Ellington 1960: Langston Hughes 1961: Kenneth B. Clark 1962: Robert C. Weer 1963: Medgar Evers 1964: Roy Wilkins 1965: Leontyne Price 1966: John H. Johnson 1967: Edward Brooke 1968: Sammy Dis Jr. 1969: Clarence Mitchell Jr. 1970: Jacob Lawrence 1971: Leon Sullivan 1972: Gordon Parks 1973: Wilson Riles 1974: Damon Keith 1975: no award 1976: Hank Aaron 1977: Alvin Ailey and Alex Haley 1978: no award 1979: Andrew Young and Rosa Parks 1980: Rayford Logan 1981: Coleman Young 1982: Benjamin Elijah Mays 1983: Lena Horne 1984: no award 1985: Tom Bradley and Bill Cosby 1986: Benjamin Hooks 1987: Percy Sutton 1988: Frederick D. Patterson 1989: Jesse Jackson 1990: Douglas Wilder 1991: Colin Powell 1992: Barbara Jordan 1993: Dorothy Height 1994: Maya Angelou 1995: John Hope Franklin 1996: A. Leon Higginbotham Jr. 1997: Carl Rowan 1998: Myrlie Evers-Williams 1999: Earl G. Gres Sr. 2000: Oprah Winfrey 2001: Vernon Jordan 2002: John Lewis 2003: Constance Baker Motley 2004: Robert L. Carter 2005: Oliver Hill 2006: Ben Carson 2007: John Conyers 2008: Ruby Dee 2009: Julian Bond 2010: Cicely Tyson 2011: Frankie Muse Freeman 2012: Harry Belafonte 2013: Jessye Norman 2014: Quincy Jones 2015: Sidney Poitier 2016: Nathaniel R. Jones 2017: no award 2018: Willie Brown 2019: Patrick Gaspard 2020: no award 2021: Cato T. Laurencin 2022: Jim Clyburn 2023: Hazel Dukes 2024: Henry Louis Gates Jr. 2025: Kamala Harris Authority control databases InternationalISNIVIAFGNDFASTWorldCatNationalUnited StatesFranceBnF dataCzech RepublicNetherlandsAcademicsScopusOtherIdRefOpen Library2NARASNAC2Yale LUX