She was always seated in her favorite chair in the den, a museum of family pictures and memorabilia from her rich life. She was always dressed for the occasion. At her biding, Shirley or Katrinka, the caregivers, had combed her hair stylishly and touched her lips with a hint of red.
When we entered the den, she would smile at each of us; and when we departed, she would give each of us a kiss on the cheek. "Come back to see me," she would tell us. We were scheduled to sing carols for her at the end of the semester.
"I have to say that I never thought much about being a legend," she told a student in SIS in 2004. Legends rarely know they are.
When asked the secret to her longevity, she said, "I think it's because I love people."
In the words of her friend, Sally Warner, Mrs. Cooper was "108 years minus 19 days" when she entered the Village of Eternity on December 21, 2009.
Mrs. Ann Nixon Cooper, the Wisest of the Wise in SIS, will live forever in our memories and in the stories she shared with us, which we will pass on to our children and they to theirs . . . down through the generations. She was an AMAZING woman who taught us how to live with purpose and with love and, therefore, fully. We loved Mrs. Cooper, and we will always love her!
When asked the secret to her longevity, she said, "I think it's because I love people."
I enjoyed being with my family and my friends, and I enjoyed working in organizations.
I was always into different projects.
One had to do with helping girls whose mothers left them at home all the time because the mothers were working.
That's where Grady Homes comes in . . . .
I had a clubhouse back then, and girls were everywhere. I remember when everyone was going to see Mrs. Roosevelt, the wife of the President, when she came to Atlanta, but I couldn't go because I had a yard full of girls.
"I have to say that I never thought much about being a legend."
President-Elect Barack Obama Honors Life and Legacy
of Spelman Woman of Widsom, Mrs. Ann Cooper
All across the nation and, indeed, around the globe, millions gathered in various places to celebrate a defining moment in the U.S.-- the acceptance speech of President-Elect Barack Obama. The Spelman College community of faculty and students, administrators and staff, thousands strong, gathered on campus in the Manley College Center for the “Decision 2008 Election Lock-in.” We wept and we cheered as President-Elect Obama spoke with eloquence and passion about his vision for a new America, and, in a voice of one, we chanted the mantra that brought our nation to this moment of celebration and promise: “Yes we can.”
But we could not have known when we gathered that President-Elect Obama would end his moving speech by lifting up a Woman of Wisdom Spelman students had interviewed four years ago for the SIS Oral History Project. Her name is Mrs. Ann Cooper. She is now l06 years old. She will celebrate her 107th birthday this coming January. Excerpts of the life story she shared with Spelman students are included in the second SIS volume, "Their Memories, Our Treasure: Conversations with African American Women of Wisdom." Excepts of a documentary on the SIS project, aired on Retirement Living TV, are featured on the Spelman YouTube page.
Like all the elders students in SIS have interviewed since 2000, Mrs. Cooper took SIS students on a journey through the decades of her life, encouraging them at every point not only to believe in change, but also to do what they can to bring about change. She never used the actual words, but “Yes we can” was the message she wanted her Spelman mentees to hear as they prepared to be future leaders in our nation.
President-Elect Obama could not have known that his words would inspire a new generation Spelman women to sit at the feet of elders like Mrs. Ann Cooper so that they could know the pathways that would lead them to leadership and service and, thus informed, prepare them to be agents of change in our new America.
We thank him for his vision, genius and leadership. We thank Mrs. Ann Cooper and all elders in SIS for their inspiration, their wisdom, and their belief in change.
Young Scholars in SIS and Gloria Wade Gayles, Ph.D.
Founding Director, The SIS Oral History Project
and RESONANCE in LEADS
The Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement
For More Information
about SIS, contact Dr. Wade Gayles Founding Director of
the SIS Oral History Project and
Faculty Mentor
for Spelman's Independent Scholars
(404) 270-5565 ggayles@spelman.edu
SIS is housed in the Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement: Trevor Arnett Building, 2nd floor.
