Lillie Cunningham celebrated her 110th birthday in Florence, Ala., in late September.
Libby Johnson
She may be one of the world’s oldest people. But age is just a number to Lillie Cunningham.
At 110 years old, Cunningham is full of life, so much so that she recently enjoyed a weekend of birthday celebrations surrounded by her community, family and friends.
She received numerous gifts: a key to the city of Florence, Ala., her hometown; a letter from President Biden; a proclamation declaring Sept. 26 as Lillie Cunningham Day; and over 200 birthday cards from people across the United States.
“I didn’t do anything. I just sat and listened to them celebrate me,” Cunningham tells NPR with a chuckle when asked about her birthday celebration.
Lillie Cunningham is 29 or 30 years old in this family photo.
Cunningham family
She was born on Sept. 26, 1914, in Lauderdale County, in Alabama’s northwest corner. At the time, women did not yet have the right to vote, Jim Crow laws restricted the rights of Black Americans, and Woodrow Wilson, the 28th president of the U.S., was in the White House.
Cunningham recalls growing up on a farm and going to church. She has outlived her four siblings — as well as her husband — and has more than 100 nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.
“I’ve been working ever since I was able to put a flour sack around my neck and pick cotton, chop cotton,” she says. “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 credits God for keeping her safe through many events over the last century, including two pandemics — influenza in 1918 and COVID-19 — and two world wars. A member of Rock Primitive Baptist Church in Florence, she attends church every Sunday and reads her Bible every night and every morning.
“I just always had faith and trust in God that he was going to carry us through regardless of what other people said,” Cunningham says.
When she’s not at church, Cunningham cooks, watches game shows and does crossword puzzles. Her great-niece and great-nephew, Pat Turner and Rickie Cole, say she was still driving herself to the grocery store until a few months ago.
“She is determined,” Cole says, recalling how Cunningham had hip surgery when she was 102 — and was nearly walking on her own just a week later.
Lillie Cunningham and her great-nephew Rickie Cole at her home on Sunday. “She is determined,” Cole says. She doesn’t need a walker to get around and refuses to use a cane.
Cunningham family
“She stayed with my mother and complained about how she don’t need to be in my mama’s house — she need to be at home taking care of herself,” he says. “It was more of a challenge to keep her at my mother’s house than the surgery itself.”
Even now, her family says, she doesn’t need a walker and refuses to use a cane.
In November, she plans to head to the polls to vote in the 2024 presidential election, and she has a message for those who don’t plan to vote, especially young people.
“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 says.
As for the secret to living a long life, the supercentenarian says there isn’t any particular secret, but she points to her Christian beliefs.
“I don’t know why God let me live this long,” she says. “But I thank him, praise him that he did and is still blessing me where I can get around and go do for myself.”
