President Obama will deliver the eulogy at the funeral of Dorothy Height, the civil rights leader who died last week at the age of 98. Height, who was president emerita of the National Council of Negro Women, was one of the last surviving leaders of the generation that battled for the fundamental rights of African Americans.
A White House source said the President would deliver the eulogy on Thursday at the National Cathedral, where final rites are scheduled for Height. She was often the only woman present at male-dominated events of the 1950s and 1960s. She stood to the left of Martin Luther King Jr. when he delivered his famed "I Have A Dream" speech at the National Mall in 1963. Mahalia Jackson sang, but no woman was allowed to speak at the March on Washington.
Her body will lay in repose at the council’s headquarters on Tuesday. Members of the public can pay their respects from 6 p.m. to 10 pm. On Wednesday, Height will be honored by the Delta Sigma Theta sorority at 2 p.m. in a public service at Howard University. At 7 p.m., a public Community Celebration of Life memorial will be held at Shiloh Baptist Church in Washington, DC. Height’s funeral will begin at 10 a.m. Burial will follow at Fort Lincoln Cemetery in Brentwood.