"I think of my life as a unity of circles,'' she wrote in the first chapter of her memoir, Open Wide The Freedom Gates.  "Some are concentric, others overlap, but they all connect in some way. Sometimes the connections don't happen for years. But when they do, I marvel. As in a shimmering kaleidoscope, familiar patterns keep unfolding.''

Besides the NCNW, she served as national president of Delta Sigma Theta sorority. She also spent much of her life as a member of the Young Women's Christian Association's (YWCA) National Board. She received her master's and bachelor's degrees from New York University. She had planned to attend Barnard College but was turned away after the school had reached its quota of two blacks. Over time, she received 36 honorary degrees.

The following is a list of service events:

Tuesday, April 27

6:00 - 10:00 p.m. --- Dr. Height will lie in repose at the Dorothy I. Height building for a public viewing.

Wednesday, April 28

2:00 p.m. -- The Delta Sigma Theta Sorority will conduct a public Omega Omega Service at Howard University. Dr. Height served as national president of the sorority in 1947.

7:00 p.m. --  A "Community Celebration of Life" memorial service will be held at Shiloh Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. The memorial is open to the public.

Lynette Holloway is a Chicago-based writer. She is a former New York Times reporter and associate editor for Ebony magazine.

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