Open Wide The Freedom Gates: A MemoirDorothy Height marched at civil rights rallies, sat through tense White House meetings, and witnessed every major victory in the struggle for racial equality. Yet as the sole woman among powerful, charismatic men, someone whose personal ambition was secondary to her passion for her cause, she has received little mainstream recognition -- until now. In her memoir, Dr. Height, now ninety-one, reflects on a life of service and leadership. We witness her childhood encounters with racism and the thrill of New York college life during the Harlem Renaissance. We see her protest against lynchings. We sit with her onstage as Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his "I Have a Dream" speech. We meet people she knew intimately throughout the decades: W.E.B. DuBois, Marcus Garvey, Eleanor Roosevelt, Mary McLeod Bethune, Adam Clayton Powell Sr., Langston Hughes, and many others. And we watch as she leads the National Council of Negro Women for forty-one years, her diplomatic counsel sought by U.S. Presidents from Eisenhower to Clinton. After the fierce battles of the 1960s, Dr. Height concentrates on troubled black communities, on issues like rural poverty, teen pregnancy and black family values. In 1994, her efforts are officially recognized. Along with Rosa Parks, she receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 13 | |
Coming of Age in Harlem | 27 |
Me Culled Too | 43 |
Building a New World | 59 |
Turning Points | 78 |
Wartime Washington | 95 |
Step by Step | 110 |
Living up to Our Promise | 200 |
Citizen of the World | 219 |
Making Common Cause | 234 |
A Place in the Sisterhood | 249 |
Building a Legacy | 258 |
Home at Last | 271 |
A Family of Friends | 288 |
Temples Still Undone | 294 |
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