President Barack Obama gave the eulogy Thursday at the funeral of civil rights leader Dorothy Height, he eulogized her as a “drum major for freedom,” describing her as an American icon who tirelessly pursued justice, she had an“unambiguous record of righteous work,” Mr. Obama said at her funeral at Washington National Cathedral. Mr. Obama drew frequent chuckles from the audience with a fondly humorous portrait of the feisty Ms. Height. When you have a nephew who’s 88, you’ve lived a full life,” Mr. Obama said. “We did come to know her during the early days of my campaign, and we came to love her as so many loved her,” the president said. “We loved her stories, and her smile, and those hats.”
He said Ms. Height had been a constant presence at the Obama White House. “She came by not once, not twice,” he said. “Twenty-one times she stopped by the White House.”
On Tuesday, hundreds of people lined three city blocks to pay respects at her viewing at the National Council of Negro Women, an organization that she served as national president for 41 years. Obama also ordered flags on public buildings to be flown at half-staff Thursday, “as a mark of respect for the memory” of Height, who died last week at the age of 98.
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