Susannah Mushatt Jones

Susannah Mushatt Jones (July 6, 1899 – May 12, 2016) was an American supercentenarian who was, at the age of 116 years and 311 days, the world's oldest living person and the last living American born in the 19th century. She received tributes from the United States House of Representatives and from the Alabama House of Representatives "for a remarkable lifetime of exceptional achievement lived during three centuries.

Biography
Susannah Mushatt was born to Callie and Mary Mushatt on July 6, 1899, in Lowndes County, Alabama. She was the third child and oldest daughter of eleven children. Her parents were African American sharecroppers who farmed the same land as her grandparents. According to her family, she also had some Native American ancestry. As a young woman, she worked in the fields and was determined to escape that hard existence. On March 4, 1922, she graduated from the Calhoun Boarding High School and the graduation roster recognized her for studying "Negro Music in France". After graduation, she wanted to become a teacher and was accepted to Tuskegee Institute's Teacher's Program. Her parents could not afford tuition, so in 1923, she moved to New York during the early stages of the Harlem Renaissance.

Death
Susannah Mushatt Jones died on May 12 2016 in her sleep aged 116 years 311 days.