‘Sculptures in fabric’: DAI’s Dorothy Height hat exhibit extended

The exhibition will be on display through July 21
The Dayton Art Institute is featuring the hat collection of civil rights leader Dorothy Height/ This hat by designer Brenda Waites Bolling, is designed to express “hatitude.” CONTRIBUTED/ZOEY BABCOCK

The Dayton Art Institute is featuring the hat collection of civil rights leader Dorothy Height/ This hat by designer Brenda Waites Bolling, is designed to express “hatitude.” CONTRIBUTED/ZOEY BABCOCK

If you missed the Dayton Art Institute’s exhibition, “Dorothy Height’s Hats,” you’re in luck — the show has been extended.

“The response to this exhibition has been phenomenal, and we’re excited to arrange to keep them on display here at the DAI for an additional month,” DAI Chief Curator Jerry N. Smith said.

Eleanor Roosevelt receives the Mary McLeod Bethune Human Rights Award from Dorothy Height in 1960. BETTMAN/CORBIA

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The show represents the personal collection of Dorothy Height, dubbed the “Godmother of the Civil Rights movement” by President Barack Obama.

More than 40 hats from her collection are on display at the DAI along with historic photos of Height wearing these special hats on important occasions.

The show will be on view at the museum through July 21.

Dorothy Height, a civil rights icon, always wore beautiful hats. CONTRIBUTED

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“It is an honor to present these beautiful hats that belonged to Dr. Height, someone who was such an important figure in the fight for equal rights for all,” Smith said.

“The hats, many made by top designers, are like sculptures in fabric and can be enjoyed as such. However, knowing who wore them makes each that much more significant.”

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