106 yr old voter has FAMU ties

Ann Nixon Cooper, the 106 year old Atlanta voter that president-elect Obama shouted out in his victory speech last night has Tallahassee ties. She is the mother of former FAMU professor Ann Hooper.

Cooper's grandson, St. Petersburg Times Columnist, Ernest Hooper had this to say about his grandmother's place in history. "I guess overwhelmed is the best word," Hooper said after the speech. "My sister said he was going to mention her in the speech. I had no idea he was going to build the entire conclusion to his speech around her and her incredible life.

"It's amazing to see someone you know all your life, someone you've loved all your life, honored on one of the most historic nights in our nation's history."

Cooper was discovered by the media two weeks ago when she went to vote early for Obama. A CNN camera crew came to her Atlanta home and profiled her.

about Ann Cooper
Ann has seen presidents come and go in her lifetime and has outlived most of them. On a sunny fall morning, she left her weathered but well-kept Tudor home in Atlanta, Georgia, to vote early -- this time for Barack Obama.

She's lived during a time when blacks and women did not have the right to vote. The African-American centenarian remembers a time not long ago when she was barred from voting because of her race. Now she has lived to see the day that Obama has elected it's first black president.

"I ain't got time to die," Cooper said with a smile. "The first black president -- isn't that something, at 106 years old?"