Oldest African-American Dies at 113 | Beautiful Woman Lived in Three Different Centuries!

[Additional generic "imagine what this old woman has seen" comment]

So she was born during the rise of Jim Crow and lived to see the first black president.

Damn.

That's all that really could be said.

She and her parents watched as you Democrats fought so hard for slavery, then shot Lincoln, ushered in Jim Crow laws, voted against women's suffrage, all joined the KKK in the 1920s, and voted against/filibustered the civil rights acts (all of them from 1866-1968) with Senator Byrd and Senator Al Gore Sr.

You all should have apologized to her.

Yay! I was also born on March 31 in Louisiana!

Further proof my ninety year-old grandpa is a spring chicken!

RIP sweet woman, know you will be missed.... ON a similar note, when I was a kid in the 70's, my mother was a home care giver to a woman who was in her late 80's, born in the late 1800's. I used to sit in front of her and listen to her stories that she would tell me about covered wagons, crossing the country and how they lived. She told me that her family had met Poncho Villa and Geronimo when she was a child. I was glued to the floor at her feet during this time. She was fascinating to listen to.

I would have loved to have sat and talked with this Lady may she rest in peace.

Wow, just imagine the kinds of stories she could tell!!

http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/7898534-one-of-the-last-children-of-us...

One of the last children of U.S. slaves has died at age 113

Born in 1898, Mississippi Winn, known as "Sweetie," has died at Magnolia Manor Nursing Home in Shreveport, Louisiana. The cause of death wasn’t released.

Winn was record as being the seventh-oldest living person in the world and also held the title of being the oldest living African-American in the U.S, according to the Gerontology Research Group, which verifies information for Guinness World Records.

With Winn's death, a gerontology group based in Los Angeles has verified Mamie Rearden, 112, of Edgefield, S.C., as the current oldest known living African-American in the U.S. He said Eunice Sanborn, 114, of Jacksonville, Texas, is the world's oldest known living person.

One of Winn’s favorite quote from the Bible: "Be ye kind one to another."

http://www.ktbs.com/news/26507431/detail.html

Mayor Glover Issues Statement On The Passing Of Miss Mississippi Winn
Shreveport
POSTED: 8:35 pm CST January 15, 2011

UPDATED: 12:02 am CST January 16, 2011

With deep sorrow Shreveport Mayor Cedric B. Glover issues this statement on the passing of Miss Mississippi Winn, the city's oldest citizen, the nation's oldest African-American and the 7th oldest person in the world. She was 113 years old. Born on March 31, 1897, Miss Mississippi Winn's birthday was celebrated throughout the City of Shreveport with community and religious leaders, family, friends and residents who all proudly shared in the joy of Miss Winn's celebration of life. Since her 110th birthday, each year Mayor Glover took great pride in proclaiming March 31st as "Miss Mississippi Winn Day" in the City of Shreveport, urging all citizens to join in the celebration of her life, longevity and her many contributions. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Miss Winn's family, relatives, her beloved Pastor Clarence Hicks and her church family and friends who all loved and cherished her," said Mayor Glover. "Our hearts are heavy, but we are extremely thankful for the time that Miss Winn gave to our City, for the lives that she touched and for the time that we shared with her in genuine and heartfelt fellowship. Her gentle spirit, her kindness and that beautiful twinkle in her eye will never be forgotten. It was a blessing to know Miss Winn and an honor to have the opportunity to recognize this outstanding woman whose life, struggles and successes are apart of the fabric of our City." Miss Winn was the highlight last month, of the National Gerontology Research Group's website and world-wide publication. "I began charting Miss Winn's birthday's many years ago," said Robert Young, GRG Senior Claims Researcher. "At that time she was "just a young'n" on the GRG list and I thought it was time for Miss Winn to get a little more attention. I checked census records and also found that Miss Winn was indeed the last person in America born to parents who were enslaved. I am deeply saddened by her passing." Over the years, Miss Winn has received congratulatory recognitions from President Barack Obama, U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu and David Vitter, U.S. Representative John Fleming, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and Senators and Representatives of Louisiana's Northwest Delegation.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

(CNN) -- Mississippi Winn didn't get caught up in the amazing statistics that accompanied someone her age.
Only 1 in 5 million people in the industrialized world live to be 110. About 60 people that age live in the United States, with another 300 or so scattered around the globe. Nine of 10 are women.
Winn was believed to be the oldest living African-American when she died Friday afternoon in Shreveport, Louisiana, at 113.
Investigator Milton Carroll of the Caddo Parish Coroner's Office said he was not permitted to disclose a cause of death, but a relative said Winn -- who was nicknamed "Sweetie" -- had been in declining health since last autumn.
Robert Young, a senior claims researcher with the Gerontology Research Group and a senior consultant for Guinness World Records, visited Winn at Magnolia Manor Nursing Home in July 2010.
"She looked to be in very good shape," he said Saturday. "It was a surprise she went downhill so fast."
Young believes Winn's parents were born into slavery. Her father was born in 1844 and her mother in 1860.
But Winn "never discussed it," said her great-niece Mary C. Hollins of Shreveport. "She would say, 'I don't know about that.'"
Winn, who did not marry and lived independently until 103, appears to have lived a life that made her especially well-qualified for the elite club of supercentenarians -- those who live to be 110 or older.
We have declared March 31 as Ms. Mississippi Winn Day since her 110th birthday.
--Cedric Glover, Shreveport, Louisiana mayor
RELATED TOPICS
Aging and the Elderly
Guinness World Records Ltd.
Shreveport
"She had always been kind to others," Hollins said on Saturday. "She was always respectful."
Shreveport Mayor Cedric Glover said the city has honored several centenarians.
"We have declared March 31 as Ms. Mississippi Winn Day since her 110th birthday," he wrote in an e-mail.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with Miss Winn's family, relatives, her beloved Pastor Clarence Hicks and her church family and friends who all loved and cherished her," he said.
The secret to living to and past 110, besides not having an unhealthy weight, said Young, is a positive attitude and emotional and physical stability. Most supercentenarians take little medication during their lives, he said.
"They do things in moderation," he said. "They don't get upset."
Most were still walking at age 105, he added.
Born in Bossier Parish, Louisiana, on March 31, 1897, Winn moved with her family to Shreveport after her father died in 1908.
One of 15 children, eight of whom lived to adulthood, Winn had a sister who lived to be 100 and a brother who lived to 95.
She worked as a domestic, cooking and helping families raise children.
She worked in Kansas City for a time and lived in Seattle, Washington, from 1957 to 1975, helping to raise three boys, before returning to Louisiana. Winn had a child who died at age 2, Hollins said.
Before she moved to the nursing home, Winn lived on her own, doing her own laundry and walking around a track for exercise. She never learned to drive. Instead, she got rides or took a bus to the grocery store.
She liked bingo and sewing and loved to cook vegetables and stewed chicken. Said Hollins: "She didn't make much over modern things."
Winn was clear about what she liked.
"She was a disciplinarian," said Hollins. Right or wrong, it was her way."
A member of Avenue Baptist Church, Winn received visits from church members and was able to attend a service on August 29. The chuch will hold her funeral next Saturday.
She outlived many of her church friends.
"When each one passed I could see part of her leaving with them," said Hollins, whose grandmother was Winn's sister.
In time, Winn came to enjoy the attention paid to her age.
But she remained even-keeled, said Hollins, recalling what her great-aunt would say.
"I'm just going to stay here until he's ready for me."
The oldest known African-American is now Mamie Rearden of Edgefield, South Carolina, who is 112.
The world's oldest known living person is Eunice Sanborn, 114, of Jacksonville, Texas, according to Young

Amazing. Articles like this make me realize how badly I want to sit down with the elderly and just listen to them; listen about how life used to be, major events they lived through, etc. I think that would be really awesome.

R.I.P. Mississippi Winn, you lived a long and healthy life for sure.

Cool and she doesn't look miserable!

http://timelines.com/1897

That is truly amazing. Imagine all she lived through. At this link it lists all of the events that happened the year she was born and at the bottom of the page the link leads you through the 1900s year by year to get an idea of just how much history good and bad that she saw.

WOW.....I would have liked to have met her! Too bad she didn't share much of her life though. I imagine she would have had wonderful stories to tell!!

What happen to just American? or Black? was she from Africa?? this BS of calling every other race Something-american is annoying!

What an incredible life! She saw two World Wars, women's suffrage, desegregation, abortion rights, interracial marriage, gay marriage, YOWZA!!!

Imagine... just imagine... having lived in three different centuries...