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Honoring Height

Civil rights pioneer praised at ceremony

Singer Joe Coleman performs
Singer Joe Coleman performs in front of a Dorothy Height stamp display at the dedication ceremony.

Hailing her as “an American treasure,” Deputy Postmaster General Ronald A. Stroman dedicated the Dorothy Height stamp Feb. 1 in Washington, DC.

The ceremony, held at Howard University, also featured tributes from other African-American leaders, including U.S. Rep. John R. Lewis of Georgia; Alexis Herman, president of the Dorothy I. Height Education Foundation and the first African-American to serve as labor secretary; and Wayne A.I. Frederick, the university’s president.

Height, who died in 2010 at age 98, worked in civil rights for almost 80 years.

She led the National Council of Negro Women for several decades and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Bill Clinton in 1994 and the Congressional Gold Medal from President George W. Bush a decade later.

“The Postal Service is proud to honor civil rights icon Dorothy Height, an American treasure whose illustrious career spanned almost a century,” Stroman said.

“The Dorothy Height Forever stamp will serve as a lasting tribute to her life and legacy of seeking equality and justice for all Americans, regardless of ethnicity, gender or race.”

The stamp is the 40th entry in the Black Heritage series, which previously honored pioneers such as Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King Jr., Robert Robinson Taylor and Richard Allen.

The stamp is available at Post Offices and usps.com. The Feb. 1 news release has more information.

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