Knoxville, Tenn. — In 1921, there were several inventions and historical moments: among them, the pop-up toaster became a household item, Hitler became the leader of the German Party, the Tulsa Race Massacre occurred, and Albert Einstein won the Nobel Prize in Physics. There was also another momentous event—Mary Elizabeth Goins was born.
Mark Twain said that growing old is a privilege that many people are denied. Born in New Market, Tennessee, this beautiful African American spry woman, always well-dressed and with a taste for homemade coconut cream pie with a real meringue (none of that fake stuff or she will know it), celebrated her 104th birthday on February 12th. Mary Goins has seen much over the last century. During these years, she has lived through the Great Depression, WWII, the assassination of great leaders, Watergate, and 9/11, as well as segregation. She also lived to see the first African American President and Vice President and the creation of national holidays for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Juneteenth.
On the local level, she lived through Urban Removal, which displaced over 2,500 Black homes, churches, and businesses to make way for the interstate and civic coliseum, designed to go through the heart of the Black community. She also witnessed the Blizzard of 1993 and the COVID pandemic, which killed over 1.1 million Americans, many of them elderly.
Mrs. Goins has been a lifelong member of Clinton Chapel AME Zion Church for over 80 years and also worked in the retail industry. She loves getting birthday cards, and in celebration of her life, her family and the Beck Cultural Center are working to get as many birthday cards sent to her as possible.
Please send all cards to the Beck Cultural Exchange Center at 1927 Dandridge Ave., Knox, TN 37915.
