Harlem Woman Turns 100, Urging Neighbors To Vote, Fill Out Census

HARLEM, NY — A full century after she was born at Harlem Hospital on Sept. 9, 1920, lifelong Harlemite Katie Nichson rang in her 100th birthday over the weekend with a socially distanced parade, and a rousing speech in which she commanded her well-wishers to vote and fill out the census.

"Get up off your butt and get out and vote! And drag someone with you if you can," Nichson told her well-wishers outside Mother AME Zion Church Saturday.

Speaking to Patch on Monday, Nichson said her message was aimed at young people in particular, and was referring to more than just this year's presidential race.

Today, Harlem celebrated a gem of the community, Ms. Katie Nichson, on her 100th birthday. Let’s all honor her birthday wish to vote and fill out the Census. pic.twitter.com/H7Pt7hM42U
— Senator Brian Benjamin (@NYSenBenjamin) September 12, 2020

"I want people to learn that elections come up not just when there’s number 45 in there," she said. "No, every time there’s an election, go out and vote, because the community is closer to you than the presidency."

Community has indeed been the driving force of Nichson's decades in the neighborhood. A longtime member of Mother AME Zion, she has also served in the neighborhood's Democratic club since its inception, and is a regular guest at neighborhood community meetings — including one in 2017 where she made news for unloading on Mayor Bill de Blasio over the poor conditions of Harlem's sidewalks.

Nichson said the importance of civic engagement wasn't lost on her, as someone born the same year that women — at least some women — were guaranteed the right to vote.

"The fact [is] that at one time, women could not vote," she said. "Then white women could vote and we couldn’t vote."

"Just put your mind to it"

Nichson came from a family with a legacy of service — her father, James Nelms, originally from Athens, Ga., served in World War I as part of the majority-Black National Guard regiment known as the Harlem Hellfighters.

Her brother later served as a U.S. Marine, where he met the man who later became Nichson's husband. They had three sons together, two of whom are now retired — including one who is a former New York City police officer.

"I needed somebody to defend me so I made my own policeman," she joked.

In a phone conversation Monday, Nichson rattled off a few of her victories from years of community organizing in Harlem, including saving a local dental clinic and preserving a gifted and talented program at P.S. 197.

Nichson said her zeal for civic engagement was shaped by her great-grandfather, who taught himself to read and encouraged his descendants to follow their ambitions in the same way.

"Just put your mind to it, your eyes to it. Don’t follow the crowd, let the crowd follow you," she recalled him saying.

"When somebody says something negative, keep walking. Finally, they’ll shut up."