BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY
What life was like in America when Virginia McLaurin was born 106 years ago
By Lindsay Brown
News beat reporter
FROM THE TOPIC LIFE
The Inaugural Ballroom in the Pension Office Building, currently the National Building Museum, is decorated for President William H. Taft January 20, 1909
Image caption This is the National Building Museum in Washington DC, as it looked in 1909
Virginia McLaurin, who's 106 years old, has fulfilled her dream of going to the White House.
She even got to have a dance with the president. "I tell you, I am so happy," she told President Obama.
"A black president, yay, and his black wife."
In 2014, the centenarian started a petition to meet the president. "My name is Virginia McLaurin, I live in Washington DC. I was born in 1909," she wrote.
Jump media playerMedia player helpOut of media player. Press enter to return or tab to continue.
Video caption 106-year-old Virginia McLaurin broke into a dance with Barack and Michelle Obama
"I've never met a President. I didn't think I would live to see a Colored President because I was born in the South and didn't think it would happen.
More related stories
Joey Bada$$ and Dj Semtex
'Jay Z should lead civil rights movement'
Rachel Dolezal
Civil rights activist 'pretending to be black'
One Direction
Obama invites 1D to White House
"I am so happy and I would love to meet you and your family if I could.
"I remember the times before President Hoover.
"I remember when we didn't have any electricity. I had a kerosene lamp. I remember the first car model Ford.
"My husband was in the Army. I lost my husband in 1941. I've been in DC ever since. I was living here when Martin Luther King was killed."
Martin Luther King
Image caption Virginia McLaurin remembers when Martin Luther King was killed in 1968
In a video Virginia says she still remembers the time before she went to school.
"I was so little. [There was] no running water in the house. We'd have to draw water from the well."
Virginia McLaurin was born in 1909, so what was life like for Americans back then?
This 1909 Welch 5 Passenger Touring might be the car you'd be driving...
You may have driven a 1909 Welch 5 Passenger Touring car.
The first flights were taking off, thanks to the Wright brothers...
Flights were just starting to take off.
Get your bloomers on - anyone for a game of croquet?
In 1909 girls wore bloomers and played croquet.
Not a leisurely life for all though....
Women worked in factories in 1909
Image caption Many women worked in factories in 1909
In 1909 America was prospering with new people arriving every day - it is the land of the free after all
Immigrants land in the US.
But life for black African Americans like Virginia McLaurin was still restricted. She was born with no civil rights.
That's why she was so happy to live to see - and dance with - the first black African American president.
And 1909 wasn't all bad for black African Americans.
In the year Virginia was born, the The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), was set up.
Its mission is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination".
By Lindsay Brown
News beat reporter
FROM THE TOPIC LIFE
The Inaugural Ballroom in the Pension Office Building, currently the National Building Museum, is decorated for President William H. Taft January 20, 1909
Image caption This is the National Building Museum in Washington DC, as it looked in 1909
Virginia McLaurin, who's 106 years old, has fulfilled her dream of going to the White House.
She even got to have a dance with the president. "I tell you, I am so happy," she told President Obama.
"A black president, yay, and his black wife."
In 2014, the centenarian started a petition to meet the president. "My name is Virginia McLaurin, I live in Washington DC. I was born in 1909," she wrote.
Jump media playerMedia player helpOut of media player. Press enter to return or tab to continue.
Video caption 106-year-old Virginia McLaurin broke into a dance with Barack and Michelle Obama
"I've never met a President. I didn't think I would live to see a Colored President because I was born in the South and didn't think it would happen.
More related stories
Joey Bada$$ and Dj Semtex
'Jay Z should lead civil rights movement'
Rachel Dolezal
Civil rights activist 'pretending to be black'
One Direction
Obama invites 1D to White House
"I am so happy and I would love to meet you and your family if I could.
"I remember the times before President Hoover.
"I remember when we didn't have any electricity. I had a kerosene lamp. I remember the first car model Ford.
"My husband was in the Army. I lost my husband in 1941. I've been in DC ever since. I was living here when Martin Luther King was killed."
Martin Luther King
Image caption Virginia McLaurin remembers when Martin Luther King was killed in 1968
In a video Virginia says she still remembers the time before she went to school.
"I was so little. [There was] no running water in the house. We'd have to draw water from the well."
Virginia McLaurin was born in 1909, so what was life like for Americans back then?
This 1909 Welch 5 Passenger Touring might be the car you'd be driving...
You may have driven a 1909 Welch 5 Passenger Touring car.
The first flights were taking off, thanks to the Wright brothers...
Flights were just starting to take off.
Get your bloomers on - anyone for a game of croquet?
In 1909 girls wore bloomers and played croquet.
Not a leisurely life for all though....
Women worked in factories in 1909
Image caption Many women worked in factories in 1909
In 1909 America was prospering with new people arriving every day - it is the land of the free after all
Immigrants land in the US.
But life for black African Americans like Virginia McLaurin was still restricted. She was born with no civil rights.
That's why she was so happy to live to see - and dance with - the first black African American president.
And 1909 wasn't all bad for black African Americans.
In the year Virginia was born, the The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), was set up.
Its mission is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination".
No comments:
Post a Comment