Naomi Whitehead celebrated her 116th birthday on September 26, 2026, surrounded by nearly 90 relatives at St. Paul’s Senior Living Community in Greenville, Pennsylvania. She is the oldest living person in the United States and the second-oldest verified person on the planet.
She was born Naomi Washington on a farm in Patterson, Georgia, when William Howard Taft was president, automobiles were still novelties, and much of rural Georgia moved at the pace of a mule and wagon. She grew up picking cotton and tobacco. She still remembers being afraid of the farm horses kicking her.
The world Whitehead was born into in 1910 is so distant from the one she lives in now that the gap can be hard to comprehend. To put it in perspective, here are 15 things that did not exist when Naomi Whitehead was born.
1. Women’s Right to Vote
When Whitehead was born on September 26, 1910, no woman in the United States could vote in a federal election. The 19th Amendment, which guaranteed women the right to vote, was not ratified until August 18, 1920. Whitehead was nine years old before any American woman could legally cast a ballot for president.
2. Commercial Radio Broadcasting
There was no radio to listen to in 1910. The first regular commercial radio broadcasts did not begin until 1920, when station KDKA in Pittsburgh started airing programming. Whitehead was 10 before a family could gather around a radio to hear music, news, or a presidential election result.
3. Traffic Lights
The first electric traffic signal was not installed until 1914, in Cleveland, Ohio. The three-color traffic light that drivers recognize today did not appear until 1920. When Whitehead was born, intersections were managed by hand signals and police officers, when they were managed at all.
4. Crossword Puzzles
The first crossword puzzle was not published until December 21, 1913, in the New York World newspaper. Whitehead, who has been described as a lifelong lover of reading, was three years old before anyone in the world had ever filled in a crossword grid.
5. Commercial Air Travel
The first scheduled commercial airline flight did not take place until January 1, 1914, between St. Petersburg and Tampa, Florida. When Whitehead was born, the Wright Brothers’ first powered flight at Kitty Hawk was only seven years in the past. Aviation was a novelty for spectators, not a form of transportation.
6. Sliced Bread
Pre-sliced bread was not commercially available until 1928, when the Chillicothe Baking Company in Missouri sold the first loaves. Whitehead was 17 years old before “the greatest thing since sliced bread” was an expression that could even make sense.
7. Penicillin and Modern Antibiotics
Alexander Fleming did not discover penicillin until 1928, and the drug was not used clinically to treat infections until 1941. When Whitehead was born, a simple bacterial infection could be a death sentence. The entire modern antibiotic era that has saved hundreds of millions of lives began 18 years after her birth.
8. Television
The first public demonstrations of television did not occur until the late 1920s, and commercial television sets did not reach American homes until the late 1930s and early 1940s. Whitehead was nearly 30 before the medium that would define 20th-century entertainment existed in anyone’s living room.
9. The Social Security System
The Social Security Act was not signed into law until August 14, 1935, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. When Whitehead was born, there was no federal safety net for retired or elderly Americans. She was 24 years old, already married with a young family, before the system was created.
10. The Hollywood Sign
The iconic Hollywood sign was not erected until 1923 (originally reading “Hollywoodland” as a real estate advertisement). When Whitehead was born, Hollywood was farmland. The American film industry was in its earliest infancy, and the concept of a movie star did not yet exist in the way it would come to define popular culture.
11. Frozen Food
Commercially available frozen food did not exist until the early 1930s, when Clarence Birdseye developed the flash-freezing process that made preservation practical. Whitehead, who has been described as someone who enjoyed baking throughout her life, was in her twenties before any grocery store sold a frozen product.
12. The Civil Rights Act
The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, was not signed until Whitehead was 53 years old. As a Black woman born in the rural Deep South in 1910, she lived through Jim Crow, the Great Migration, the civil rights movement, and the eventual legal dismantling of segregation. She was born 45 years after the end of the American Civil War.
13. The Moon Landing
When Whitehead was born, powered flight had existed for only seven years. She was 58 years old when Neil Armstrong walked on the Moon on July 20, 1969. The entire arc of human flight, from a 12-second hop at Kitty Hawk to a lunar landing, occurred within her lifetime.
14. The Internet
The precursor to the internet, ARPANET, was not created until 1969. The World Wide Web was not invented until 1989, and it did not become publicly available until the early 1990s. Whitehead was in her eighties before the technology that now defines daily life for billions of people was switched on.
15. Smartphones
The first iPhone was released on June 29, 2007. Whitehead was 96 years old. The device that most people now consider essential to daily existence was not even conceived until she had already lived for nearly a century. Social media platforms like Facebook (2004), Twitter (2006), and Instagram (2010) were all created after her 93rd birthday.
Who Is Naomi Whitehead?
Beyond the milestone, Whitehead is a woman whose life spans six generations of an American family and more than a century of the country’s history.
She was born Naomi Washington on September 26, 1910, on a farm in Patterson, in Pierce County, Georgia. Her parents were Douglas and Pauline Washington. She was the youngest of several siblings, including Douglas Jr., Clarence, Ellen, and Viola. She outlived all of them.
Her education began at Gethsemane Church near Patterson. As a child, she helped her family by picking cotton and tobacco on the farm.
In 1930, at the start of the Great Depression, she married Sylvester Whitehead. They had three sons: Parrish L. (1933 to 2011), Elbert, and Sylvester Jr. The couple also had a daughter, Jackie Wilkins, who lives in New York.
The Whiteheads relocated from Georgia to Sharon, Pennsylvania, in the early 1950s. Naomi worked as a housekeeper and retired in the 1970s. Sylvester died in 1979.
Whitehead outlived her husband and all three of her sons. When her last surviving son, Parrish, died in 2011, she moved to St. Paul’s Senior Living Community in Greenville, Pennsylvania, where she has lived since.
As of her 110th birthday in 2020, Whitehead had 12 grandchildren, 28 great-grandchildren, 49 great-great-grandchildren, and three great-great-great-grandchildren. Her legacy stretches across six generations.
She has credited her longevity to her family history (her father lived into his 90s), a lifetime of hard work, never smoking, never drinking alcohol, and faith in God. Staff and family describe her as someone with an excellent memory and a gift for singing hymns. A photograph of her parents still hangs on the wall of her room.
America’s oldest person, Naomi Whitehead, just celebrated her 116th birthday on September 26, 2026.
Her milestone was honored with a large family reunion at St. Paul’s Senior Living Community in Greenville, Pennsylvania, where she currently resides. Born Naomi Washington in Patterson, Georgia, in 1910, her life spans monumental eras of history, from picking cotton on a childhood farm to living through both World Wars, the Great Depression, and the birth of the digital age.— Rogue Soldiers (@RogueWarrior47) September 29, 2026
Where Naomi Whitehead Stands in History
Whitehead’s accumulation of longevity records tells its own story:
In September 2020, she turned 110 and became a supercentenarian.
On August 22, 2022, she became the oldest living person in Pennsylvania after the death of Lenara Carey.
On January 24, 2024, she became the last living American born in the year 1910.
On October 22, 2024, she became the oldest living person in the United States after the death of Elizabeth Francis, who was 115.
On February 10, 2026, she became the second-oldest living person in the world after the death of Marie-Rose Tessier of France.
On March 10, 2026, she became the last living American born before 1912 after the death of Bonita Gibson.
On September 26, 2026, she turned 116. She is only the 33rd person in recorded history to reach that age.
The only person verified to be older is Ethel Caterham of the United Kingdom, born August 21, 1909.
Quick-Reference Profile
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Birth Name | Naomi Washington |
| Born | September 26, 1910, Patterson, Georgia |
| Age | 116 |
| Current Status | Oldest living person in the United States, second-oldest in the world |
| Husband | Sylvester Whitehead (married 1930, died 1979) |
| Children | 3 sons (Parrish, Elbert, Sylvester Jr.), 1 daughter (Jackie Wilkins); all sons predeceased her |
| Descendants | 12 grandchildren, 28+ great-grandchildren, 49+ great-great-grandchildren, 3+ great-great-great-grandchildren |
| Residence | St. Paul’s Senior Living Community, Greenville, Pennsylvania |
| Longevity Credits | Family genetics (father lived to 90s), no smoking, no alcohol, faith, hard work |
| Record Since | October 22, 2024 (oldest living American) |
| 116th Birthday | September 26, 2026 (attended by nearly 90 relatives) |
FAQs
How old is Naomi Whitehead?
Naomi Whitehead is 116 years old. She was born on September 26, 1910, in Patterson, Georgia, and celebrated her 116th birthday on September 26, 2026, at St. Paul’s Senior Living Community in Greenville, Pennsylvania.
Is Naomi Whitehead the oldest person in the world?
No. Whitehead is the second-oldest verified living person in the world, behind Ethel Caterham of the United Kingdom, who was born on August 21, 1909. Whitehead is, however, the oldest living person in the United States.
What does Naomi Whitehead credit for her long life?
Whitehead has credited her longevity to her family history (her father lived into his 90s), a lifetime of hard work, never smoking, never drinking alcohol, and faith in God. Family members also point to her discipline and active lifestyle throughout her life.
Where does Naomi Whitehead live?
Whitehead lives at St. Paul’s Senior Living Community in Greenville, Pennsylvania. She has been a resident there since 2011, when she was 101 years old.
How many descendants does Naomi Whitehead have?
As of her 110th birthday in 2020, Whitehead had 12 grandchildren, 28 great-grandchildren, 49 great-great-grandchildren, and three great-great-great-grandchildren. Her family spans six generations.
What was the world like when Naomi Whitehead was born?
When Whitehead was born in 1910, William Howard Taft was president; women could not vote; there was no commercial radio or television, antibiotics had not been discovered, and powered flight was only seven years old. The internet, smartphones, and social media were all more than 80 years away.
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