Ann Louise Nixon Cooper (January 9, 1902 – December 21, 2009) was a

centenarian A centenarian is a person who has reached the age of 100. Because life expectancies at birth worldwide are well below 100, the term is invariably associated with longevity. The United Nations estimated that there were 316,600 living centenarian ...

best known for being invoked in United States President-elect

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

's November 2008 election speech as someone who had witnessed "the struggle and the progress" of the past century, and as a representative of the change in status that

African-Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

and

women A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional u ...

have achieved in America. Before that, she was a noted member of the Atlanta African-American community and an activist for

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

Biography

Cooper was born in Shelbyville,

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, on January 9, 1902, and raised in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. She moved to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, in her early-twenties with her husband, Albert Berry Cooper, a

dentist A dentist, also known as a dental doctor, dental physician, dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry, the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. The dentist's supporting team aids in provi ...

, and they had four children together. During that time, she served more than fifty years in public work on the board of Gate City Nursery Association and also helped found the Girls Club for African-American Youth. Because there were no integrated

Boy Scout A Scout, Boy Scout, Girl Scout or, in some countries, a Pathfinder is a participant in the Scout Movement, usually aged 10–18 years, who engage in learning scoutcraft and outdoor and other special interest activities. Some Scout organizatio ...

troops in 1930s Atlanta, she wrote to the Boy Scouts in New York for help in starting Troop 95, Atlanta's first Boy Scout troop for African-Americans. When her husband died,

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

sent Cooper a telegram; she also met with

Coretta Scott King Coretta Scott King ( Scott; April 27, 1927 – January 30, 2006) was an American author, activist, and civil rights leader who was the wife of Martin Luther King Jr. from 1953 until his assassination in 1968. As an advocate for African-Ameri ...

and saved photographs of the occasion. Cooper first registered to vote on September 1, 1941. Although she was friends with elite Black Atlantans like W. E. B. Du Bois,

John Hope Franklin John Hope Franklin (January 2, 1915 – March 25, 2009) was an American historian of the United States and former president of Phi Beta Kappa, the Organization of American Historians, the American Historical Association, the American Studies ...

and

Benjamin Mays Benjamin Elijah Mays (August 1, 1894 – March 28, 1984) was an American Baptist minister and American rights leader who is credited with laying the intellectual foundations of the American civil rights movement. Mays taught and mentored many i ...

, she did not exercise her right to vote for years, because of her status as a black woman in a segregated and

sexist Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but primarily affects women and girls. It has been linked to gender roles and stereotypes, and may include the belief that one sex or gender is int ...

society. During the 1970s, she served as a tutor to non-readers at

Ebenezer Baptist Church Ebenezer Baptist Church is a Baptist megachurch located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, affiliated with the Progressive National Baptist Convention and American Baptist Churches USA. It was the church where Dr. Martin Luther King Sr. was c ...

. She also served on the Friends of the Library Board, serving at one time as vice president of the board. In 1980, she received a Community Service Award from Channel 11 for being one of the organizers of the black

Cub Scouts Cubs or Wolf Cubs are programs associated with some Scouting, Scout organizations, for young children, usually between 8 and 12, who are too young to be Scouts and make the Scout Promise. A participant in the program is called a Cub and a gro ...

and serving as the first den mother for three and a half years. She was also awarded the Annie L. McPheeters Medallion for community service from the

Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History The Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History is a special library within the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System. It is in Atlanta's Sweet Auburn Historic District. The Auburn Avenue Research Library opened in 19 ...

in 2002. Her grandson is Lawrence D. Bobo, the W. E. B. Du Bois Professor of the Social Sciences and the Dean of Social Science at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Age issue

When featured in Obama's 2008 speech, Cooper was 106 years old. Some news outlets erroneously reported her as "oldest voter" even though there were several older voters, including then-114-year-old Gertrude Baines, 113-year-old Beatrice Farve, 112-year-olds Maggie Renfro and George Francis, 110-year-olds Virginia Call and Onie Ponder, and 109-year-olds Nettie Whittington and Amanda Jones (all voted for Obama); and 112-year-olds Eunice Sanborn,

Besse Cooper Besse Berry Cooper (née Brown; August 26, 1896 – December 4, 2012) was an American supercentenarian who was the world's oldest living person from June 21, 2011 until her death in 2012. Early life, education and career Cooper was born Besse B ...

, and Walter Breuning (all indicated they likely voted for McCain) and 109-year-old Gertrude Noone (who voted for McCain). Cooper died on December 21, 2009, three weeks before what would have been her 108th birthday. Census research suggests she may have been a year younger than claimed; the 1910 U.S. Census lists her as seven years old in April 1910. Given a January birthdate, this suggests that she was born in 1903.

References

Transcript of Barack Obama acceptance speech
''Chicago Tribune''. Retrieved on 10 November 2008.

''Digital Library of Georgia''. Retrieved on 10 November 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Ann Nixon 1902 births 2009 deaths African-American activists 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women Activists for African-American civil rights African-American centenarians American women centenarians Barack Obama 2008 presidential campaign People associated with the 2008 United States presidential election Activists from Atlanta People from Shelbyville, Tennessee

Biography

Age issue

See also

References