Annie Lee Wilkerson Cooper (June 2, 1910 – November 24, 2010) was an African-American

civil rights activist Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

in the 1965 Selma Voting Rights Movement who is best known for punching

Dallas County, Alabama Dallas County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census, its population was 38,462. The county seat is Selma. Its name is in honor of United States Secretary of the Treasury Alexander J. Dall ...

Sheriff Jim Clark.

Life and work

Annie Lee Wilkerson Cooper was born on June 2, 1910, as Annie Lee Wilkerson in Selma, Alabama, one of ten children of Lucy Jones and Charles Wilkerson Sr. When Cooper finished seventh grade, she dropped out of school and moved to Kentucky to live with one of her older sisters. In 1962, Cooper returned to Selma to care for her elderly mother. Appalled by the fact that although she had been a registered voter in Pennsylvania and Ohio she was unable to register to vote in Alabama, Cooper began to participate in the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...

. Her attempt to register to vote in 1963 resulted in her being fired from her job as a nurse at a rest home. She then worked as a clerk at the Torch Motel. In January 1965, Cooper stood in line for hours outside the Dallas County Courthouse to register to vote until Sheriff Jim Clark ordered her to vacate the premises. Clark prodded Cooper in the neck with a

billy club A baton (also known as a truncheon or nightstick) is a roughly cylindrical club made of wood, rubber, plastic, or metal. It is carried as a compliance tool and defensive weapon by law-enforcement officers, correctional staff, security guards ...

until Cooper turned around and hit the sheriff in the jaw, knocking him down. Deputies then wrestled Cooper to the ground as Clark continued to beat her repeatedly with his club. Cooper was charged with "criminal provocation" and was escorted to the county jail, where she was held for 11 hours before being allowed to leave. She spent the period of her incarceration singing spirituals. Some in the sheriff's department wanted to charge her with attempted murder. Following this incident, Cooper became a registered voter in her home state. On June 2, 2010, Annie Lee Cooper became a

centenarian A centenarian is a person who has reached the age of 100 years. Because life expectancies worldwide are below 100 years, the term is invariably associated with longevity. In 2012, the United Nations estimated that there were 316,600 living centen ...

. Reflecting on her longevity, she stated, "My mother lived to be 106, so maybe I can live that long, too." She died on November 24, 2010, at the Vaughan Regional Medical Center in Selma, Alabama.

In popular culture

In the 2014 film ''

Selma Selma may refer to: Places *Selma, Algeria *Selma, Nova Scotia, Canada *Selma, Switzerland, village in the Grisons United States: *Selma, Alabama, city in Dallas County, best known for the Selma to Montgomery marches *Selma, Arkansas *Selma, Cali ...

'', Cooper was portrayed by Oprah Winfrey. Winfrey said that she took the role "because of the magnificence of Annie Lee Cooper and what her courage meant to an entire movement."

External links

SNCC Digital Gateway: Annie Lee Cooper
Documentary website created by the SNCC Legacy Project and Duke University, telling the story of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee & grassroots organizing from the inside-out.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Annie Lee 1910 births 2010 deaths Activists for African-American civil rights Activists from Selma, Alabama African-American activists Women civil rights activists American community activists American centenarians Selma to Montgomery marches African-American centenarians Women centenarians 21st-century African-American people