An election day story
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Gertrude Baines voted for Barack Obama yesterday, just like more than 63 million other Americans. No big deal, right?
Well, it's no big deal except that Gertrude is 114 years old.
She's the third-oldest person in the world, born during the presidency of Grover Cleveland. An African-American, Gertrude is actually the daughter of freed slaves. The significance of her vote, perhaps more than any other cast in the nation yesterday, should not escape us.
The Los Angeles Times tells the story of Gertrude's vote in this story. Check it out. Great stuff.
Well, it's no big deal except that Gertrude is 114 years old.
She's the third-oldest person in the world, born during the presidency of Grover Cleveland. An African-American, Gertrude is actually the daughter of freed slaves. The significance of her vote, perhaps more than any other cast in the nation yesterday, should not escape us.
The Los Angeles Times tells the story of Gertrude's vote in this story. Check it out. Great stuff.
posted by Andrew C. Thompson at 1:02 PM
2 Comments:
That is amazing. Gertrude is the generation (singular!) between slavery and the first African-American PUSA. Unbelievable!
I thought so as well. It was similar in some ways to the 106-year old woman from Atlanta that Obama mentioned in his victory speech. Just remarkable to think about the history and cultural change that is represented in such a person.
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