As a mark of respect for the memory of civil rights activist Dorothy Height, President Barack Obama has issued a proclamation ordering the flying of flags at half-staff on the day of her interment, Thursday, April 29, 2010. The flag is to be flown at half-staff upon all public buildings and grounds.

Dorothy Height, an African-American administrator, educator, and key civil rights activist in the 1960s, spent her life crusading for the causes in which she believed - equal rights for all and social justice.  She began her career as an advocate for civil rights and gender equality during the 1930s, working to prevent lynching, desegregate the U.S. armed forces, reform the criminal justice system and work for free access to public accommodations in the United States.  Height led the National Council of Negro Women for 40 years.  In 1994, President Bill Clinton presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.  In 2004, she was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.

According to the National Flag Foundation, federal law states "by order of the President, the flag shall be flown at half-staff upon the death of principal figures of the United States Government and the Governor of a State. In the event of the death of other officials or foreign dignitaries, the flag is to be displayed at half-staff according to Presidential orders, or in accordance with recognized customs or practices not inconsistent with the law."

As a public building, the Fontana Unified School District's schools and district office will display the United States flag at half-staff until sunset Thursday, April 29, 2010.  Flag protocol indicates that each day the flag be raised to its peak then respectfully lowered to half-staff. At the end of the day, the flag is again to be hoisted to its peak before being lowered.

Online Resources:

• Presidential Proclamation
  
  
• Dorothy Height, Largely Unsung Giant of the civil Rights Era, Dies at 98
  The New York Times, April 20, 2010
  
• Civil rights leader, former National Council of Negro Women Chairwoman Dorothy Height dead at 98
  New York Daily News, April 20, 2010

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