102-year-old woman receives high school diploma

HAZEL GREEN, Ala. (WAFF/Gray News) – A 102-year-old woman in Alabama received an honorary high school diploma during Hazel Green High School’s Awards Day.

Sammy Jean Davis wasn’t able to finish school during the late 1930s and early 1940s. The war was going on, and many left school to go to work.

Her family said the challenges Davis faced years ago are not so different from what some students may encounter today.

“Societal norms in 1939 just kept mother from being able to go and do what our students have an opportunity to do now,” Davis’s daughter, Leslie Cross, said.

“The flexibility and the acceptance of their contributions, married, unmarried, whether they’re expecting a child or not, fathers and mothers both, and they’re given the opportunity to still reach out and get their education at their traditional high school,” she said.

School officials said Davis’s story is one of perseverance and a lifelong commitment to education.