of Battlefields and Bibliophiles: Oldest living African-American dies at 113

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Oldest living African-American dies at 113

Mississippi Winn

. . .Winn was one of two known people left in the United States whose parents both were almost certainly born into slavery because documents show they were born before the end of the Civil War, though her great-niece Mary C. Hollins says Winn never acknowledged that.

"I don't know much about that," Hollins recalled Winn saying when asked about her parents' early years.

[from the Associated Press]

1 comment:

Andy Hall said...: It's easy to lose track of how recent the Civil War actually was, in human terms. My mother could have known, as a small child, one of her relatives who was a solider, an officer, during the war. Though they both lived long lives, neither had an exceptionally long lifespan as did Ms. Winn. And various heritage groups still carry a few "real sons" and "real daughters" on their rolls. It wasn't all that long ago.; 10:34 AM