Lillie Cunningham of Florence, Alabama, will turn 112 on September 26, making her the oldest living resident of the state of Alabama and a member of the small group known as supercentenarians.
Cunningham was born September 26, 1914, in Lauderdale County on the banks of the Tennessee River, and has lived in the same area her entire life. She has lived through both World Wars, the Korean, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts and the current Iran conflict, and survived both the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic and COVID-19.
She has lived under 20 U.S. presidents and was of voting age for 15 of those elections. In an interview with NPR marking her 110th birthday, Cunningham said she was looking forward to casting a ballot in the November 2024 election and had a direct message for younger Americans who skip voting.
“I tell them to make sure to vote because at one time I couldn’t vote or do anything. So, those that don’t vote now, I ask them why they don’t vote, because they have a chance to do things now that I didn’t do when I was coming up,” she told NPR.
Cunningham grew up during the era of Jim Crow laws in the Deep South, which restricted the rights of Black Americans, and has lived to see those legal restrictions lifted. She grew up on a farm and recalled working in the fields as a child.
“I’ve been working ever since I was able to put a flour sack around my neck and pick cotton, chop cotton,” she said. “So, that’s just about almost all I did growing up. Was in a field chopping cotton, picking cotton … go to school, go to Sunday school and on to church.”
She has outlived her four siblings and her husband, and has more than 100 nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews. She remains an active member of Rock Primitive Baptist Church, which she has attended since childhood, going every Sunday and reading her Bible morning and night.
“I just always had faith and trust in God that he was going to carry us through regardless of what other people said,” Cunningham said.
Cunningham worked well into her 80s. According to her grand-nephew, she had hip surgery at age 102 and was walking again within a week. She drove herself around until two years ago. These days, when she’s not at church, she cooks, watches game shows and does crossword puzzles.
Kaytrina P. Simmons, the Florence city councilwoman who represents Cunningham’s district, is helping organize the birthday celebration.
“She’s great,” Simmons said. “This is wonderful, and I am honored to be her councilwoman.”
For her 110th birthday, Cunningham received more than 200 birthday cards from across the country. Organizers hope to top that number for her 112th. Cards should be sent by September 21 so Simmons can deliver them before the birthday on the 26th. According to Longeviquest, the oldest living person in the United States is currently Naomi Whitehead of Greenville, Pennsylvania, at 115.
Cards can be mailed to: Mrs. Lillie Cunningham, c/o Kaytrina Simmons, P.O. Box 44, Florence, AL 35631.
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