SIS: Spelman's Independent Scholars

Celebrating the Life and Legacy of
Mrs. Ann Nixon Cooper

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."