ATLANTA , Georgia -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Ann Nixon Cooper sits back in her dining room chair , her eyes closed tight and her lips clenched , when asked if she will attend Barack Obama 's inauguration in January . Ann Nixon Cooper was born in 1902 , a time when women and black people were denied the right to vote . `` I could go and maybe would go , but I 'm not looking forward to it , '' says the 106-year-old former socialite . What if Obama came to her house and asked her in person to attend ? Cooper perks up and a big smile spreads across her face . `` Oh , yes , of course I 'm ready to go ! '' It 's been a whirlwind ever since Obama mentioned the African-American centenarian in his victory speech Tuesday night . Throngs of media -- from the BBC to a Japanese station to national news outlets -- have descended on her Atlanta house . Strangers have stopped by too . She 's taking it all in stride . She stayed up later than usual , until about 3 a.m. , after Obama 's speech and the phone began ringing off the hook . She had been tipped off by the Obama campaign that he 'd say something . `` Somebody told him what to say and what to do and he followed through , '' she says . Watch `` I 'd be proud to meet him as anybody else '' '' Cooper -- who was born during a time when women and black people could n't vote -- fully understands the significance of Obama 's victory . `` Things are changing , changing , changing , and I look for more change now that it 's the first black president in victory of faith over fear , '' she says . `` Do n't you know , that 's quite something to be proud of . '' What would she tell Obama if she ever meets him ? `` I would n't have anything special to say about Obama . I enjoyed listening to him , but that 's all , '' she says . `` I would be proud to meet him as anyone else . '' She and her late husband , prominent dentist Dr. Albert Cooper , raised four children in her house . The home was a center of Atlanta 's black society and the scene of many parties . She knew Martin Luther King Jr. when he was just a boy and was close with his mother . She sometimes refers to Obama as `` that young man . '' In his victory speech , Obama praised Cooper 's fight . The president-elect had learned of her story two weeks earlier after CNN profiled her when she went to the polls to vote early . Obama called her soon afterward . Watch Obama talk about Cooper in his victory speech '' `` This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations , '' Obama told the tens of thousands of supporters who had gathered in Chicago on Tuesday night . `` But one that 's on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta . She 's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing -- Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old . `` She was born just a generation past slavery ; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky ; when someone like her could n't vote for two reasons -- because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin . `` And tonight , I think about all that she 's seen throughout her century in America -- the heartache and the hope ; the struggle and the progress ; the times we were told that we ca n't , and the people who pressed on with that American creed : Yes we can . '' Cooper watched Obama 's speech from her home . `` Yeah , I knew he was talking about me -- I had been told that he would be saying these things . '' See images of Cooper 's early voting extravaganza '' She added that her late husband `` would be elated '' a black man will be president . `` Yeah , he 'd be so tickled to death , '' she said . `` We looked forward to changes . Everybody looked forward to a better life . '' One of her grandsons , Albert B. Cooper , said the family has been overwhelmed with pride since Tuesday . `` It was a bigger honor than you could ever imagine to be mentioned in Obama 's speech . For her to be used as an example of the strength -- and all the changes that have gone on within the black community -- is stunning . We were touched and proud and I ca n't come up with the words , '' he says . `` It 's an amazing thing . '' Ann Cooper has called Atlanta home since the 1920s . She co-founded a Girls Club for African-American youth and taught community residents to read in a tutoring program at Ebenezer Baptist Church , where King preached . Celebrities , including the late singer Nat King Cole , often dropped in to visit . One time many years ago , a young student from Morehouse College stopped to visit . He spoke of dreams to become a filmmaker . That man , it turns out , was Spike Lee . `` It 's been a house with a heap of living going on in it , '' Cooper said . Born in 1902 in Shelbyville , Tennessee , Cooper danced the electric slide up until the age of 103 . She has recently slowed down after suffering several heart attacks and a fractured hip . On a typical day , Cooper spends hours watching television in her wood-paneled sitting room . Her favorite shows are `` The Price is Right , '' `` Oprah '' and `` Dancing with the Stars . '' Three of Cooper 's four children have died ; her surviving daughter is 83 . She has 14 grandchildren living and many great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren . When CNN first interviewed her in October , she said she only had one thing left to see in this world . `` I ai n't got time to die 'cause I 've got to see a black president , '' she said , giggling with excitement . `` I 've got to see that . '' Now , she says , `` I would be very proud if I could just meet and shake his hand . ''