10:00 a.m. pacific time. we will also do collins with charles bowden who has written about violence on the border with the new immigration laws passed in arizona. we can talk to him about that and we will also talk to raisa oslin about religious extremism. you have probably seen them on "the daily show." finally roxanna saberi will be doing a call-in program with us also about her captivity in iran. throughout the day we will have a panel, including does the american economy have a future, joyce appleby will be on that panel and another panel is current interest, what we don't know can hurt us, and those are two of the panels that we will be covering tomorrow along with the middle east, facing the realities is another panel so another five and have hours of live coverage from los angeles tomorrow. enjoy the rest of your afternoon. now we want to throw to dorothy

height. dorothy height civil rights activist passed away last week at the age of 98. in 2003, she wrote her autobiography, "open wide the freedom gates" and she was 91 years old at the time. here she is on booknotes from 2003. c-span: dorothy height, who got you to write a memoir? >> guest: many people for a long time have been after me to write my story. but really, it was dr. camille cosby who finally sat me down with some people and said, this is something that you really should do. and then my good friend, maya angelou, who has such a distinguished career, when i talked to her about it, she said to me, well -- she helped me to get a sense of telling my story, or telling the story that i've been a part of.

c-span: what do you think's the most important part of this story? >> guest: it may well be the -- the role that i have -- and the opportunities that i have had as a woman, as a black person growing up in the united states, and as one who really, from my teenage days, have been a part of organizations and active -- had an active life. and i have been in touch with so many people, and really have had the opportunity to work on five continents and meet people of all kinds of backgrounds. and i think it may well be that it's in sharing something of what so many people have given to me. c-span: now, i know it's not a secret because it's in the book that you're 91 years old. >> guest: i am 91.

i was 91 in march. c-span: are you still active? >> guest: very active. c-span: what do you do on a day-to-day basis? >> guest: well, i go to work every day. i am the chair and president emerita of the national council of negro women, and we initiated two or three years ago a process of transition and activity, so i've been a part of it. but i'm pretty active not only in the national council of negro women, i'm chair of the leadership conference on civil rights and had an active role in civil rights. c-span: i want to ask you about some of the people that you mention in the book. when was the first time you met martin luther king? >> guest: i first met martin luther king, he was 15 years old. he had come to morehouse college at a time when to become a student at morehouse college without graduating from high school -- because it was part of

the gifted program. and i was in atlanta for the ywca of the united states, and i was director of training. and my white colleagues would stay in the hotel, but i couldn't. and that gave me, really, the opportunity to stay with dr. and mrs. benjamin mayes. he was the president of morehouse, and he -- his wife invited me to come home early one evening to meet what she said was -- she said, i want you to meet bennie's favorite student. and it turned out to be martin luther king, jr. c-span: what year would that have been? >> guest: that was 1945. c-span: what do you remember about him at age 15? >> guest: i remember -- i remember what an experience it was to sit and -- around dinner and then after dinner to just hear him think like any 15-year-old would do about what he wanted to do and what he

wanted to be, whether he wanted to go into ministry or medicine or law. and you know, one of the things that struck me so mightily was i knew that i was in the presence of an unusual person, not only because he was gifted but because of, really, the nature of even the conversation. and then 10 years later, when rosa parks refused to give up her seat, he was my leader, in 1955. it was a tremendous experience. c-span: now, there's a picture in your book -- we're going to get it on camera here -- from a famous day in 1963. >> guest: yes. c-span: you got to look carefully, but you're right there in the middle. tell us what that picture's all about. >> guest: well, that picture really represents several things. it was being a part of what i think was one of the greatest experiences in america, and not only for me but for everyone. but it also is a reminder to me

that martin luther king, jr., made a great speech, and that was an unusual occasion. but also, i was one of the women, along with mrs. king and mrs. abernathy, seated on the platform, but you know, we tried very hard to get the opportunity to have a woman speak. and byron reston, who was the executive for the program, said, of course, there were women members of all of the organizations -- the unions, the churches, all of the different organizations which were represented. and so women were represented. it was hard to convince him, and we didn't convince him, that while we were pleased to hear their male heads, but we wanted not me but any woman. and we had (unintelligible) a whole long list of who could speak and have a voice of a

woman. but one of the things i'll never forget is that the only voice we could hear of a woman that day was mahalia jackson singing the national anthem. but the women nevertheless -- we took our seats, but i don't think that would ever happen again. c-span: what -- what was the import -- talk to someone who's 20 years old today and tell them the importance of 1963 and that march. what -- did anything change after that? >> guest: there was a spirit. there was a sense of righteous indignation. there was a coming together as i have never seen. and i think that any young person at that time had to have a feel that they were witnessing a moment in america that was america at its best. and it was a -- it was a kind of

experience that brought together people of all races, all ages, male and female, all denominations. but there was a sense of unity. and i think that's -- that was the heart of that day, and i think it was only as years have gone by that we see that we lost that drive. the climate has changed. c-span: how many white people were there? >> guest: oh, many. many. the representation was just phenomenal. c-span: what was the purpose of the march? >> guest: well, it was really a march for jobs and freedom. you know, a. philip randolph, who called the march, had called one during the roosevelt administration, but president roosevelt issued executive order 8802. and so his march -- that march never was realized.

but this time, a. philip randolph called for the march, and it was for jobs and freedom. the first call really helped to get the principle of fair employment practices moving, but this time, it was an effort to really speak up for jobs and for equality of opportunity. c-span: i want to read you a sentence -- couple sentences from your book. you say, "i've often thought about those words" -- and you were -- i don't even remember who you were quoting, but you say, "as i look back at that period now"... >> guest: (unintelligible) louter. all of the quiet work that was done, it took direct action through the marches and the selmas and the more militant acts on the problem to bring about real changes." >> guest: yes. c-span: so are you saying here that without the militant actions, you wouldn't have gotten the changes. >> guest: no, because i thin for

a long time, we put a lot of attention on dealing with prejudice and bigotry and building race relations, interracial groups. but it was -- we -- i think they came to the realization that we were not dealing so much with interpersonal relations. and i think this is where the civil rights movement moved us, to the realization that we had to change a whole system that was based in segregation. and it took giving evidence of the way in which segregation worked not only to the people who suffer but to the whole community, direct non-violent action to highlight, to really focus attention on the reality of segregation and discrimination. c-span: you grew up in what town? >> guest: in a little town called rankin. it was a borough of pittsburgh,

a tiny little town, population of about 7,800 people, and largely an outpost of (unintelligible) the thornborns. it was an interesting little community. c-span: what were your parents doing at the time? >> guest: my father was a building contractor. and while i had been born in richmond, he was among those who in 1916 felt that there were better opportunities in northern communities, and so he chose and the family moved to rankin. my mother was a nurse, and in fact, she was the head of nurses at a hospital in richmond, virginia, a black hospital. my father was very fortunate because he could find work. in fact, he employed people. he was self-employed all his life.

but my mother, being a nurse, was not able to work in any hospital, nor was there a nurses registry that would take a negro at that time. c-span: you say in your book, early on, that you were not aware of prejudice until you were about 12 years old. >> guest: well, i'd had a little experience with it in that one of my little neighbors, who i loved very much, told me one day that she couldn't hold hands and go up the hill or down the hill with me as we went to school, as we had always done, because she found that i was a "nigger." so that was one of -- that was my first shock. but i think -- i lived also with the realization of my mother's feelings about not being able to get the kind of job that she wanted. c-span: but you -- when you got into girl scouts and...

>> guest: no, the ywca. c-span: i'm sorry, the ywca -- but the whole business that -- the swimming pool and the ywca in rankin versus the ywca in pittsburgh. >> guest: i had been -- i was -- as i said, rankin was kind of a mission center, and some women from the ywca had come out there and organized. and i was -- i had joined. i was chosen, actually, as one of the three girls to be on a poster emphasizing mind, body and spirit. and we had our little white blouses and blue middies, you know, blue ties and middies on. and so i eagerly gathered up some friends, and we went downtown, to a 45-minute streetcar ride to downtown, to chatham street, to the ywca, because we thought, well, since we're girl reserves -- they were called then -- we just wanted to swim.

and when we got there, the person at the desk said, well, i'm sorry. you cannot swim. well, i had not heard any such thing before, but i said to my little friends, well, let us ask for the executive. so we went in and she did see us. and then the executive said to us, she said, well, i realize that you are girl reserves and you'd like to swim, but we do not -- cannot -- you cannot -- i cannot break the rules of the ywca and have you swim in this pool. and that was my first experience of protesting against that discrimination. c-span: how long did it take before a black person could swim in a pool in pittsburgh? >> guest: i don't know. but one of the things that i feel was significant for me was that that pool was -- that the

ywca later changed its policy. but i don't know how long that particular association took, but it proved to be later one of the most significant, in terms of the inclusion of women of all races. c-span: now, in high school, was -- what kind of a high school was it? was it mixed? >> guest: yes. there were very few black students in our high school. as a matter of fact, as i looked back later, i realized that it was a kind of survival of the fittest because while we were few, for three years, the black students graduated first, second and third in the classes. so that -- and i -- it's an interesting thing because we had such a good relationship among students in the schools, and we were -- and then i was on almost

every kind of -- the debating society, the basketball team, different activities. but that -- the reality was that only those -- i think the best students made it. and years later, i went back for a reunion of the students of the school, and they honored the first principal, and they honored me as a graduate. and i realized then, when i saw where we had come from, some 39 states, and people with a lot of backgrounds, what a rich experience i had had growing up in that community with people of -- with such wide diversity, where in the high school, race was not a factor. c-span: you tell the story about the speech contest and going to harrisburg.

>> guest: yes. i participated in a number of things, and my english teacher encouraged me to enter the impromptu speech contest. now, that's a kind of activity in which you have to be prepared on a wide range of subjects, and then you draw your number and you make your speech. you don't -- and my principal and my latin teacher, who was also my coach, drove to harrisburg because i had been the winner in our county and in our area. and when we got there, we went to the hotel, and the principal went in first, and then he sent for the teacher, who had been sitting with me. and she came back and she said, i just don't know what to say, she said, because they didn't

know you were a negro. well, as we were getting to go, and they were going to drive, my mother said to me, as she had a new dress that she'd had made for me to make this speech, she said, dorothy, no matter what happens, keep yourself together. you just keep yourself together. and it was as if i could hear those words as the teacher was talking to me. and i said, that's all right. if you -- she said, but you have to make your speech, and you have to have some dinner and you have to get dressed. and i said, but if there's a delicatessen, i can get something and make a sandwich and get some milk and graham crackers. and i can take my dress to the place, and i would dress in the ladies room. so that's what we did. and i was very interested that that night, as i drew my number -- i was no. 17, and there were

17 contestants. it was in the carnegie hall of harrisburg, state capital. i drew the number, of course, with no advantage because you only know what you're going to speak the same 10 minutes -- everybody has the same 10 minutes to prepare. you're notified that your turn is next 10 minutes beforehand. but i drew the brion peace compact, and as i made my little speech, i pointed out that brion said the league of nations could not produce peace, but the league of nations was an instrument to be used by people, but peace would come in the hearts of men when peace -- when men really wanted peace, they would have peace. and i used that -- and i used that (unintelligible) illustration, i said.

the message of peace had come some 2,000 years ago, but if you remember, the parents of this child were turned away at the inn, like my parents -- like my principal and my teacher and i had been turned away. and i won the first prize with the unanimous vote of the judges. and the only black person in the room besides me was the janitor who had helped me find the drinking water when i was getting dressed. c-span: now, this is the north. >> guest: this is the north. this is pennsylvania, the (unintelligible) great state of -- keystone state. c-span: now, at that time, you would have been how old? >> guest: i was 14. c-span: and that would have been in about... >> guest: in 1926... c-span: in '26? >> guest: no, it was 1927. c-span: in '27.

>> guest: i guess i was 15. c-span: did -- was -- were you well aware, at that point, that you couldn't stay in certain hotels, couldn't swim in some swimming pools and... >> guest: no, i -- this was a first experience for me. in fact, this would have been almost the first time that i had traveled that distance, and i'd usually gone with my parents to places where we -- you know, that were -- where we lived with people. i had never gone to a hotel. c-span: well, then -- then the columbia university story. and what year did you go to columbia, or try to go to columbia? >> guest: yes. i graduated from rankin high school in 1929, and i had -- at that time, i loved the sciences, and i had a brother who recommended to me barnard college. and i applied.

my principal, teachers and all gave me good marks, good letters. then i went and took the exams, and i was later informed that i had been accepted. but when i went in on the -- to take the -- what -- the placement test, when i went to do that, dean guildersleeve was so reluctant to talk with me, and i got so nervous because my train had been a little late, and i had thought that maybe i -- that was a factor. but finally, she said, i haven't rushed to talk to you because, really, i didn't realize you were a negro. and she said, you know, we have two colored students already. belle tobias and fiora joseph were the two. and she said, so that we could not take another until the fall because belle tobias will be leaving.

well, that was a very low moment for me. and i today, as i hear people talk about quotas, i react to quotas and i know what a quota can do. and after she said all this, i just was about to give up, but my sister, with whom i was living, after a few days followed my brother's second advice. he said, try nyu. we went to nyu. and as i was talking to dean ruth schafer, a few minutes before the close of registration, she asked me if i had a diploma. and i said no. she said, well, have you applied to nyu? and i said no. and she looked at me as if she was so puzzled as to why would i still be trying to enter if i

hadn't applied. and my sister whispered to me, and she said, dorothy, show her your letter from barnard college accepting you. so i showed her the letter. and i'll never forget, she took the letter, she looked at it, and she said, a girl that makes these kind of grades doesn't need an application. and she accepted me. c-span: what kind of grades had you made in high school? >> guest: i was an a student. c-span: straight a? and then what kind of a student were you in college? >> guest: straight a. c-span: back to barnard for a moment. why would you have a quota of only two -- at the time, you were called negroes -- of two black people? why would they have that kind of a quota? >> guest: i don't know. but you know, at that time, that was -- i guess that was considered forward-looking because there were some schools who wouldn't have accepted you at all. but you know, an interesting thing about it is that later on, both barnard and nyu gave me

their highest honors. and at barnard college, they do not give an honorary degree, they give a medal. and they awarded it to me. and you know, one of the reasons it's hard -- really -- and i say to people you can't get bitter about what happens to you. you have to keep working. and one of the things -- that certainly said to me that there'd been a change and... c-span: so what year did you graduate from nyu? >> guest: i graduated from nyu -- well, i went there in 1929 on an elks scholarship that i had won from an elks oratorical contest on the constitution of the united states. and my parents were older parents because i had come late in the lives of both of them. and i was very concerned.

so i established myself, and i was able to do my bachelor's degree in three years and my master's degree the fourth year with that scholarship. and mind you, that scholarship was great then. it was $1,000 a year. it was a thousand-dollar scholarship that could see me through most of four years. c-span: how many years did you live in new york city? >> guest: well, i really -- from my high school days, i lived in new york until just recently. in fact, i consider myself more a new yorker than anything else. c-span: when did you have the automobile accident? >> guest: that was in 1942 -- '41. i had been to new york to -- i had been -- had attended (unintelligible) united christian youth movement, and

saint james presbyterian church had me to come and speak on -- for their youth program. and on the way back, as i got into washington -- we drove up, drove back, with three of us in a car -- i think they said we were overcome with the fumes from those kind of heaters they had in cars at that time. and so we were tired, and we fell asleep and we hit a tree. that was 1941. c-span: and how long were you in the hospital? >> guest: i was in the hospital 89 days, and i was on crutches for three months. c-span: what happened to you physically? what kind of injuries did you have? >> guest: well, i had a broken tibia. and of course, i had 67 stitches across my face. my face was flattened out. in fact, they thought at first i would have to have plastic surgery to restore it. my arm was broken.

and it was quite an ordeal. c-span: what impact did that accident have on you? did it change your life in any way? >> guest: well, it was helpful to me because being unable -- and my eye was injured, and being unable to use my eyes and to have to lie quietly, it was a great time for reflection. and then i had some great experiences. mrs. roosevelt, who was in the white house, sent me -- sent flowers and came to see me. people from all over the world who had -- in the ywca sent messages. and there were all kinds of things happened. c-span: and your job in 1941 was what? >> guest: my job in 1941 -- i was the executive director of the phyllis wheatley ywca in washington, d.c. c-span: who was phyllis wheatley, by the way? >> guest: well, phyllis wheatley was a poet who -- whose

contribution to all history is so great -- president george washington drew upon some of her works. and she became a symbol of achievement, a symbol of education. and she has -- her name has been used on many institutions in the black community, as -- for the inspiration that she brings. c-span: did you ever meet her? was she alive when... >> guest: oh, no. that was way ahead of my time. c-span: way ahead of your time? but you did meet, as you say, mrs. roosevelt. when was the first time you met her and why? >> guest: well, i first met her when i was on the staff at the harlem ywca. i had been there about a month. i was the assistant executive. and the -- i had the assignment to escort mrs. roosevelt into a

meeting that mrs. bethune was holding at the ywca building in harlem. c-span: got a picture here of you and mrs. bethune. >> guest: yes, that -- that picture is from the time when i -- when mrs. bethune, since i was working for the ywca in washington, made me -- or coopted me, almost, as the executive director for the national council of negro women. but in 1937, when i was going into this -- when mrs. roosevelt was to come into the meeting to (unintelligible) for mrs. bethune, i escorted her. and as i was leaving, mrs. bethune asked me my name. she said, come back. we need you. and i've been back ever since. but you know, the interesting thing is that was the time when the first lady of the land could drive her own thunderbird, park it in a harlem street, come in and stay for two hours, and her

only advance would be dorothy height escorting her in and out. .. her? >> what? >> how often were you around her? how often did you see mrs. roosevelt? >> actually, in 1938, i was one of 10 young people that mrs. roosevelt called to hyde park, moliard and bill hefrpgly and a number of us. and we spent the weekend with her, planning for what became the world countries on peace, youth conference on peace.

th >> respect other people and how to work together. and she followed the conference all the way through her way beds before that she had prepared us in a very real way and i don't think any of us will ever forget to that we had at hyde park. >> you were at the about kill cottage? >> that's right. >>host: new quote per somebody say that what a wonderful person she was and she said because of her husband? do remember that quote to? >> >> i was a member of a group

called the committee of correspondence from people all over the world and a group of asian women as they're all beating as mrs. roosevelt was the closing speaker one little group was closing and mrs. roosevelt was leaving one of them said how did you come to be such a great woman? it was interesting. she sat down because i was married to a great man. he taught me many things he was the governor of the state of new york and he could not travel but he sent me and i came to see people and to understand people and i would come back to report and say yes.

i went to the orphanage and they would say, eleanor, do you think when the wife of the governor appears they will be better than usual? note that -- don't do just what they have planned for you before hand will figure out the poorest neighborhoods did you ask to go to those neighborhoods in and when you do, look at the clothes hanging on the line and they will tell you something about the people and how many people are just sitting around the streets and adults and whether the people days the men doing? and she said that made a difference it is interesting and within taiwan's a few years ago a woman came up to me and said he may not

remember but i ask the question of mrs. roosevelt and she said her answer changed my life i am the champion of the poor people here and in she told me she was elected to office and what she was doing. >>host: i want to rescue the same question about two different people. in your lifetime, which a black person, african-american has been the most effective for civil rights and which white person in your experience has been the most dedicated to changing the civil-rights situation? >>guest: i think i would have to say the leadership of dr. king. the quality of leadership,

have to say that in eight surprising way, the leadership that lyndon johnson gave in helping the country get the civil-rights back. >>host: you mentioned mary and how did you get to know were and why was she so important in your life? >>

>>guest: she became an adviser to the president of united states. the only african-american woman to have a four year accredited college. and 4b common 1937, to have under tours tutelage, to have the opportunity to see how she worked with the powerful people and the powerless was really a critical element to my whole growth and development. >>cspan: what was she doing in 1937? >>guest: president roosevelt had run her to washington as his adviser on minority affairs for the national youth administration and later she became a special adviser to the president which was a unique role. this is for me, for the

person who dealt with the simplest matters as well as a larger issue. always related to the her how she could bring people together. and sheik taught people how to learn to work together and she was teaching coalition building and collaboration and networking long before those words became popular. >>cspan: she died 1955? what with the circumstances? >>guest: she was asthmatic and she had traveled a lot. and she simply had one of her tax. she died peacefully in her

home. >>cspan: you talk about going to the funeral of mrs. roosevelt and of 1962? in new york. >>guest: it was new york and in the cathedral of saint john. and over the years i have kept in touch with mrs. roosevelt. but there was a young woman woman, a gust of who had been working for mrs. roosevelt. and then she lost her health but on mrs. roosevelt's last day she came back to be with her. we came out and saw each other and the conclusion of the memorial service and as we sat there in the range she talked about mrs. roosevelt that said that the fact that

mrs. roosevelt would send for her after she had been away from her for almost 20 years commencement all lot to h. then mrs. roosevelt was having such pain and needed to be turned over and when she reached to do it, she said mrs. roosevelt said a dustup, don't forget the doctor told you not to lift anything heavy and she said at that moment i would have done anything if it would have kept her alive. but i cannot believe there was such a person who would think about me at the moment like that when i was trying to be of help to her. >>cspan: how many years did you work for the ywca? >>guest: overall about 40 years but 33 years on the

national front i went into work on an interracial education that i was the director of trading and then with the civil-rights movement moving into the interracial charter i became the of director for social justice and i think you see even in my assignments a major national organization whose membership is drawn largely from the majority population of which is it intrusive of the changes that were made and today it has something. i had a major hand in working on which was the creation of one imperative

of an 1970 and one imperative is to trust the elimination of racism wherever it exists. >>cspan: a lot of photographs are in here with famous people you were standing around in one of them this year bobby kennedy on the left and a philip randolph with whitney young is in this photo. what you remember about that day? where was that? >> that was one of the day's we were coming together and wrote about the fact that with the civil rights agenda i was a 11 and member of the united civil-rights leadership movement that included dr. king and mr. wilkins and james farmer and john lewis and philip

randolph. but i was part of that group. that is one of the many locations that we came together to develop strategies. but where we could rejoice a little bit because it looks like we were getting the civil rights act on word. >>cspan: you can walk to union station and there is a statue of him and you said earlier he organized the 1963 march? >>guest: that is correct. sometimes that is overlooked. >>cspan: who was the? philippe randolph was a person who really organized what was called but brotherhood of -- and he became a great leader in the labor movement. a fellow randolph was an eloquent speaker and even at

the march on washington i tried to ride it in no way that i wrote it would come out this way he introduced march and mr. king and he said martin luther king j.r.. that talked about his speaking at the table there are no reserved seats. you get what you can take it you can keep you can hold the you cannot hold anything without power and power comes from organization. i will never forget those words. >>cspan: pictures with you and lyndon johnson. what was that about? >> that was the meeting

where the clubs and i met to with him to let him know more about us so we could talk about some of our concerns and issues related to women because i think all the way through, the civil rights efforts to, to still keep alive the issues related to women. because we are women who are also colored with both racism and sexism. >>cspan: what do you remember personally about him? >>guest: what i remember of him, that had great impact on me when he was vice president, he held a meeting and in that

meeting, he said to them, i know that you are reluctant knowing my history but you wanted john f. kennedy so you took me. then he added, but what you don't know is when i was in the movement she was the head of the advisor with did ministration and he said i have this message to go to tallahassee but that is a colored school but they said to him, lyndon johnson i did not ask you what color the people are.

you are representitive of the united states of america and you go over three you are assigned and believe me i went. by went because of his own recognition of his own steps along the way. >>cspan: what do remember of ronald reagan in this meeting? >> in that picture ronald reagan recognize the 50th anniversary of it national council of negro women. him and mrs. reagan not only received us and welcome dusts but that it was very significant that even working at the white house one of the most beautiful receptions ever hailed ronald reagan also while he

was then the white house had that kind of experience. >> i want to read from your book where you say in our society every step african-americans take is the nonpolitical terms. look at the political parties the democrats seem to take us for granted and the republicans seem to count us out except for tempered flirtations when they really need us. we have no permanent friends peppermint issues and we have to keep working on them. does that make you neither a democrat nor republican in? >> it is the united states of america and people say we have one president at a time and we have our president of the people and whichever

president is there we have to be held responsible. we cannot choose we have to be responsible and that is also why i also feel that something i learned as a young person that he said we're not a church or state with the unreasoning obedience we've only zero it to the highest judgment of which we are capable. more and more we have to look at who the people are and what they do and how those issues and how they relate to the needs of people and not simply be blindly led were blindly following. >>host: did you know,

william e. b. du bois? >>guest: yes. during my college-- in new york. i had to gather students, black students from city college, and why you and hunter college. i believe i had a question and speaker about once per month we had him more frequently we would call them the do block lecturer. the doctor would go beyond any narrow thinking about him or africa and african people. and he always had become a he was an intellectual but he had a real sense of humor. i loved being there and just

to be challenged by him. >>cspan: did you know, about the next? >>guest: yes. i had the experience just before he was assassinated comment malcolm x, that to come to sydney point* eight house in pleasant hill where malcolm x had just come back from mecca and he wanted to share with leadership in the civil-rights his thinking. i will never forget he said to us, we have to be working and unity and belongs in minsk -- sens made it clear that does not mean uniformity but we should not be in a press talking against each other work together i have put so much attention on the high

command and the evil white man has done a comeback from mecca and i want to put the intention instead on the black people and how we can build our people and what we can do and work together to 17 there are pictures in your book of jimmy carter, george bush, george herbert walker bush, bill clinton, but unless i missed something i cannot find a picture of richard nixon. is there a reason? >>guest: there probably is. i had many pictures. there probably are some of those were selected by the publisher. but also, even at to the time that people place the monument, it was at the time

president ford had taken toll so there might have been a picture with president ford because he was the person who excepted the first african-american of one of any race with the monument 21714 blocks from here lincoln park at the capitol. the national negro national council of negro women, what is and how long have you been associated with it? >>guest: i have been associated since that day in 1937. two years before that women said what we needed was not another organization about one to bring people together. she said because the negro woman stands outside of the

american and mainstream of opportunity empower but we needed to harness our power, if we could do with the problems that have affected us. >>cspan: 6303 pennsylvania avenue the building that has your name on it. what is it and how did you get there? >>guest: 6303 pennsylvania avenue is a part of where the of legacy and vision marilyn had become she said want to see my women with a strong presence in the nation and we had purchased at 1318 vermont which is now the bassoon memorial museum billy archive in the country devoted to black women.

and when that was taken over through the park service because it was not incorporated as a historic site with the park service service, those that came to us from the federal government to initiate a building fund. and it was four years then we discover this building and 633 between the high house and the capital. the hard work of so many women, corporations women, corporations, churche s, all working together, it is now our national headquarters us site and a place where we say will be a center for developing a national strategy. but also to keep making

things better. >>cspan: you tell us the first price seers had on the building was 21 million. how much did you pay for it? too why we got at 8 million. then they have the beautiful our work -- artwork and all of the equipment. >>cspan: and the photographer? >>guest: yes. we were able to get that for a couple hundred thousand so we got the whole thing 8,200,000. >>cspan: who paid for it? where did you get the money? >>guest: the members worked we're also very fortunate. in fact,, chrysler, ford motor company and general motors were our guarantors' and that is an unusual thing for a nonprofit group.

they worked with us. then in the last year, we had it down at about 5 million and we had a dinner and at that time, oprah winfrey, don king, freddie mac and fannie mae and all of the friends added their deaths. i cannot add them all but it was a dedication we got the commitment for the $5 million so the building could have the mortgage burned. i think the thing that we see is it is more than a building. it is the center that recognizes the contribution and african american and african american women have made and it gives us a site from which to be a greater

service. >>cspan: you were single all of your life? >>guest: yes. >>cspan: did you miss anything of that in your opinion? >>guest. i don't think so. i have many friends and a great extended family i have enjoyed it and things of change that i have tried to work on. >>cspan: how old are you in that picture? >>guest: i was about 32. a moment in my life when i was working for the ywca to 17 living in new york city. the time is up. then name of the book is "open wide the freedom gates." our guest is dorothy heights. thank you very much to what she was an activist and civil-rights leader boris 70 years of the protesters

social worker organizer and public speaker pressure was president of the national council of negro women from 195-72-1958 and organize a national black family reunion celebration and she died april 20, 2010 at the age of 98.