Remembered for holding, at the age of 116, the Guinness World Record for oldest person alive, she was also the seventh known person in the history of the world to reach her 116th birthday. She died in 2006, four months after her monumental birthday.
Born in Somerville, Tennessee, to former slaves, she moved to Memphis in her early adulthood.
She survived all but two of her children and, at the time of her death, had over 200 great-great-great grandchildren and close to eighty great-great-great-great-grandchildren.
She married Louis Bolden, with whom she subsequently had four daughters and three sons.
She and French-born fellow supercentenarian Jeanne Calment were both two-time holders of Guinness' oldest living person title (each woman regained her title following the death of a previous usurper).
