Purple and Red in West Palm Beach

 

From left, YWCA of Palm Beach County, Inc. President Theresa LePore and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Suzanne Turner; and West Palm Beach Officer In Charge Robert Weiser posed with an enlargement of the Dorothy Height stamp of the Black Heritage Series. From left, YWCA of Palm Beach County, Inc. President Theresa LePore and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Suzanne Turner; and West Palm Beach Officer In Charge Robert Weiser posed with an enlargement of the Dorothy Height stamp of the Black Heritage Series.

 

After working for a time as a social worker, Height joined the staff of the Harlem YWCA in 1937. She had a life-changing encounter not long after starting work there. Height met educator and founder of the National Council of Negro Women  Mary McLeod Bethune when Bethune and U.S. first lady Eleanor Roosevelt came to visit her facility. Height soon volunteered with the NCNW and became close to McLeod. One of Height's major accomplishments at the YWCA was directing the integration of all of its centers in 1946.

 

 

Late Civil Rights Advocate Dorothy Height was known for her formal wardrobe of feminine suits in lush colors and, most specifically, her glorious hats. West Palm Beach, FL, Customer Relations Coordinator Curlita Rogers-Saunders (not pictured) captured her spirit with the purple décor in the Lassiter Student Center of Palm Beach Atlantic University.

 

On Feb. 8, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., West Palm Beach, FL, Alumnae Chapter, attended the Dorothy Height stamp dedication at Palm Beach Atlantic University. Dr. Height was initiated into Delta Sigma Theta Sorority in 1939 through Rho Chapter at Columbia University. She went on to serve as the 10th National President of the Sorority from 1947-1956. During her tenure, she oversaw the purchase of the Sorority’s first National Headquarters building. She was involved in hiring the organization’s first executive director, The Honorable Patricia Roberts Harris.

Dr. Height also developed leadership training programs as well as interracial and ecumenical educational programs for members of Delta Sigma Theta as well as other organizations and institutions throughout the United States. Dr. Height was always present and very much involved at national Delta events and many local and regional events as well. There was never a time that she did not leave words of wisdom for Sorority members and guests who were present.

Photos: West Palm Beach Customer Relations Coordinator Curlita Rogers-Saunders