Susannah Mushatt Jones, the world's oldest person, died in her sleep on Thursday after 10 days of being in and out of the hospital. She was the last living American born in the 1800s. (She was born in 1899.) The possibilities for synthesis points are practically endless. I mean her father worked as a sharecropper, picking cotton to provide for his family. She lived through both World Wars, 20 US presidents, the Great Depression, the birth of the automobile, the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement, the invention of the TV, the internet, the development and changes of the political parties. Basically where APUSH gets really interesting and on. Jones went to school at Calhoun Colored School in Alabama, where Booker T. Washington was an original member of the school's board of trustees. In 1923 Jones worked as a live in house keeper and nanny. She decided that she was going to put the first born girl of her family through college, which is a huge deal considering she was a woman in the 20s. Even though that was a liberated time most women weren't that liberated. She ended up single handedly putting her first 3 nieces through, despite her salary of only $50 a week. Way to go Ms. Jones.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/13/living/worlds-oldest-person-dies/index.html
A couple fun facts:
The oldest person living ever was Jeanne Calment of France, who died in 1997 at 122.
The spokes person for the article was from The Guiniess Book of World Records. Just thought you guys might find that interesting... I kind of thought it was funny :)
That's so interesting; she has lived through so much of the history we are learning about. (and you're right- the interesting part of US history)
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