Harlem’s oldest resident is also America’s oldest — Alelia Murphy feted on her 114th birthday | New York Daily News

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Ellen Moynihan, New York Daily News
Alelia Murphy celebrates her 114th birthday at the Harlem State Office Building in Manhattan on Friday. (Gardiner Anderson/for New York Daily News). Featured Image

At age 114, Alelia Murphy has living yet to do.

Wearing a tiara, yellow suit and a smile, Murphy celebrated her birthday in Harlem on Friday. She’s believed to be the oldest person in the United States.

The crowd applauded as she was wheeled into the party room and sang along to a recording of “Happy Birthday” by Stevie Wonder. Every old person should be as healthy as Murphy — her blood pressure’s normal and she’s not diabetic, one of her granddaughters reports.

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Murphy was born on July 6, 1905 in Grifton, NC. She moved to Harlem in 1926 — in the midst of the Harlem Renaissance. She was followed by her boyfriend from home, whom she married later that year.

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