Virginia McLaurin, a Washington woman who was 106 when in 2016 she visited and danced with Barack and Michelle Obama in the White House, has died. She was 113 years old.
A family statement on McLaurin’s Facebook page said: “With heavy hearts we share that Ms Virginia McLaurin passed away this morning [Monday]. She had been under hospice care for a few days.
“She lived an incredibly full life and appreciated all the love she received from people … everywhere she went. (Before the pandemic that is – for the past few years she largely stayed inside.)”
When McLaurin visited the Obamas, footage of the joyous encounter quickly went viral. On the White House Facebook page, the video has now been viewed 70m times.
When McLaurin started dancing, the then president said: “She’s dancing! Come on! What’s the secret to dancing at 106?”
Speaking to CTV after the visit, McLaurin said she told Barack Obama: “‘It’s Black History Month and I’m here to represent Black history.’ He said, ‘You made our day.’ I was happy. Lord, I’m still happy about that.”
McLaurin also said she was usually too stiff to dance but when she met the Obamas, “I was so happy I didn’t care.”
She also told the Washington Post she wished she “could have 30 minutes alone with him”, adding: “Oh, you know how women think.”
Writing about McLaurin’s visit in the Guardian, Syreeta McFadden said that for a Black woman, the sight of McLaurin’s joy at meeting the first Black president was hugely symbolic.
“For Black women born early in the 20th century, when the nation suppressed the civil, social and economic liberties of African Americans, when American society actively resisted the humanity of African Americans, to be alive and witness this particular historical moment – McLaurin’s dance of joy is celebration hard earned and won. My grandmother, like McLaurin, never expected to live to see the day.”
McLaurin was 99 when Obama was elected, in November 2008. In the Guardian, McFadden listed other historic moments from McLaurin’s life, from the foundation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in the year of her birth, 1909, through the civil rights March on Washington of 1963, when McLaurin was 54.
The family statement announcing McLaurin’s death said: “She had an extraordinary memory, sharing stories of family’s life as sharecroppers in South Carolina before traveling north in the Great Migration.”
It also said that while McLaurin became “best known for her visit to the White House in 2016, she spent decades volunteering 40 hours a week at schools after she retired”.
At 104, in 2013, McLaurin was honoured in Washington for her volunteer work with disabled students.
According to a fundraising page set up to cover funeral costs, McLaurin also “volunteered as a foster grandparent and collaborated with other tenants in the fight for quality living conditions [and] was a devoted member of her church”.
The page added: “We encourage you to look out for the other Ms McLaurins in your neighborhood. There are elders in every community who give back to the community and could use some support. They also have stories to tell.
“Ms McLaurin came to the attention of the White House after she started recording short oral history interviews.”
In a statement on Tuesday, Barack and Michelle Obama said: “Rest in peace, Virginia. We know you’re up there dancing.”
