Happy Birthday Dorothy Height!

The Richmond Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority will commemorate the life, legacy and accomplishment of the late Dorothy I. Height on Thursday, March 24, on what would have been her 110th birthday.

Ms. Height, a Richmond native, social worker and activist who was known as the “Godmother of the Civil Rights Movement,” served as the 10th national president of the sorority from 1947 to 1957, followed by a 40-year tenure as president of the National Council of Negro Women.

The virtual celebration, which is open to the public, will begin at 6:30 p.m. and will include a panel discussion featuring Dr. Thelma T. Daley, national president and chair of the NCNW and a past national president of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority; Dr. Trish Johnson, the sorority’s South Atlantic regional director; Dr. Gloria White Flowers, a historian and former president of the NCNW’s Richmond section; Dr. Carmen Foster, a public historian and sorority member; and actor Daphne Maxwell Reid, an honorary Delta.

Throughout her life, Ms. Height fought for equal rights for African-Americans and women, voting rights, reforms to the criminal justice system and reducing unemployment and illiteracy, as well as abolishing lynching.

She died in 2010 at the age of 98. Vanessa Evans, president of Delta’s Richmond Alumnae Chapter, said this is the second year the sorority has celebrated a day honoring Ms. Height. “We want to keep this legacy going so no one ever forgets who Ms. Height is,” Ms. Evans said.

Ms. Height worked closely with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders to end segregation and was involved in organizing the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom at which Dr. King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

The celebration will include a video recording of Richmond vocalist Desiree Roots singing “Happy Birthday” for the commemoration of Ms. Height.

Registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ vFKJ3AxkRVeL1C1lwjyicg

Additional information: Contact Delta’s Richmond Alumnae Social Action Committee at social.act.dstrichmond@gmail.com.