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The Savannah Tribune • Wednesday, December 23, 2009 - 9
Ann Nixon Cooper Passes
Away at 107
Ann Nixon Cooper
Ann Nixon Cooper, the
Atlanta centenarian whose
name Barack Obama invoked
in his post-election speech as
a symbol of America's strug
gles and progress, died
Monday. She was 107.
She died peacefully in
her bed Monday afternoon
surrounded by loved ones.
Cooper rose to fame in
2008 when she was men
tioned in the famous “Yes We
Can” speech delivered by
then President-elect Barack
Obama.
President Obama
released the following state
ment upon the news of her
death:
"Michelle and I wish to
express our deepest condo
lences on the passing of Mrs.
Ann Nixon Cooper. From her
beginnings in Shelbyville
and Nashville, Tennessee to
her many years as a pillar of
the Atlanta community, Ann
lived a life of service.
Whether it was helping to
found the Girls Club for
African American Youth,
serving on the board of direc
tors for the Gate City
Nursery, working as a tutor at
Ebenezer Baptist Church or
registering voters, Ann had a
broad and lasting impact on
her community. I also under
stand that as a wife, mother
and grandmother, Ann was a
source of strength for her
entire family, and that she
always put them first.
Over the course of her
extraordinary 107 years, Ann
saw both the brightest lights
of our nation's history and
some of its darkest hours as
well. It is especially mean
ingful for me that she lived to
cast a vote on Election Day
2008, and it was a deep honor
for me to mark her life in the
speech I delivered that night.
It was a life that captured the
spirit of community and
change and progress that is at
the heart of the American
experience; a life that
inspired - and will continue
to inspire - me in the years to
come. During this time of
sadness, Michelle and I offer
our deepest condolences to
all who loved Ann Nixon
Cooper. But even as we
mourn her loss, we will also
be rejoicing in all that she
meant for her family, her
community, and so many
Americans. Obama said of
Cooper, "she has lived long
enough to know both "the
heartache" of being denied
the right to vote and "the
hope" of seeing election of
the nation's first African-
American president”.
She became active in
Atlanta's civic and cultural
life and founded or helped to
found several organizations
that remain Atlanta institu
tions, such as the Gate City
Day Nursery Association, the
Girls Club Guild and Troop
95, Atlanta's first black Boy
Scout troop.
She also worked on
voter education and registra
tion, and insisted on voting in
every election, "because
there were so many years we
weren't allowed to vote, you
know. I felt I had to, and I
wanted to." Funeral arrange
ments are incomplete at this
time.
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Chamber Installs New Officers and
Presents Oglethorpe Award During
Annual Meeting
Pictured L to R: William Hubbard,Chamber President; Diana M. Morrison, Immediate Past Chair;
Steve Greene, Oglethorpe Leadership Award Recipient; and Bert Tenenbaum, Chamber Chair.
The Savannah Area
Chamber of Commerce held
its 203rd Annual Meeting on
Thursday, December 17,
2009, at the Savannah
Marriott Riverfront Hotel
with Board Chair Diana M.
Morrison presiding.
In addition to passing
the gavel of leadership to a
new Chairman, and a new
slate of Directors, the
Chamber also announced the
2009 Oglethorpe Award
recipient.
Steve Greene of
Stephen Green Properties,
received the 2009 Oglethorpe
Leadership Award, and Bert
M. Tenenbaum of Chatham
Steel Corporation was
installed as the new Chamber Board Chair.
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