Katherine Young
Encyclopedia
Katherine Young (May 10, 1901 – October 24, 2005) was a Chinese-American centenarian
who, at the age of 102 in 2003, gained publicity when she was described as the oldest known living user of the Internet.
Born in a small Hakka
village in the Fujian
province during the final years of Late Imperial China
, she attended Yenching University
in the capital, then referenced as Peking. Raising four daughters with her husband, Paul T. J. Young, she lived through the tumultuous 1920s, along with the death and destruction of the Sino-Japanese War and World War II during the 1930s and 1940s. At war's end, with Mao Zedong
's Communist armies poised to take over, the family escaped to Hong Kong, then Taiwan
, and, in 1958, when Katherine Young was 57 years old, immigrated to the United States, settling in the California charter city
of Palo Alto, along the San Francisco Bay Area
.
In 1998, aged 97, and having served as president of the Rose Club in Palo Alto's Lytton Gardens Senior Communities, she decided to try something new and signed up for the retirement community's 12-week computer class which aimed to teach seniors how to use WebTV. By the conclusion of these sessions, she was logging on and became an activist for the cause of encouraging elders to use the Internet. A Pew Internet and American Life Project
study showed that only 18% of Americans 65 and older get online, as opposed to 58% of the American population as a whole.
Five years later, on her 102nd birthday, she became a celebrity for being the oldest person to surf the Internet. She was feted with numerous birthday emails and an emailed sonogram
of her great-grandson, who was born in August 2003. She studied Chinese genealogy
on Google
and, having been Rose Club president for 16 years, researched roses. She used email to communicate with her ten grandchildren and told reporters she checks for new messages as many as six times a day. From her apartment, she accessed the Internet via MSN TV (formerly WebTV) Internet service provider. Microsoft recognized her achievement and gave her a golden lifetime subscription.
Katherine Young died in Palo Alto almost six months past her 104th birthday. It has been noted that although she was considered the oldest known living user of the Internet, Audrey Stubbart
who, until very shortly before her death five years earlier, in 2000, at age 105, was a columnist, copyeditor and proofreader for the Missouri
newspaper Independence Examiner, used the then-early Internet at a slightly more-advanced age.
Centenarian
A centenarian is a person who is or lives beyond the age of 100 years. Because current average life expectancies across the world are less than 100, the term is invariably associated with longevity. Much rarer, a supercentenarian is a person who has lived to the age of 110 or more, something only...
who, at the age of 102 in 2003, gained publicity when she was described as the oldest known living user of the Internet.
Born in a small Hakka
Hakka people
The Hakka , sometimes Hakka Han, are Han Chinese who speak the Hakka language and have links to the provincial areas of Guangdong, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan and Fujian in China....
village in the Fujian
Fujian
' , formerly romanised as Fukien or Huguing or Foukien, is a province on the southeast coast of mainland China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait...
province during the final years of Late Imperial China
Late Imperial China
Late Imperial China refers to the period between the end of Mongol rule in 1368 and the establishment of the Republic of China in 1912 and includes the Ming and Qing Dynasties...
, she attended Yenching University
Yenching University
Yenching University was a university in Beijing, China. It integrated three Christian colleges in the city in 1919. Yenching is an alternative name of Beijing - derived from its status as capital of Yan state, one of the seven Warring States from 5th century BC to 3rd century BC.The university...
in the capital, then referenced as Peking. Raising four daughters with her husband, Paul T. J. Young, she lived through the tumultuous 1920s, along with the death and destruction of the Sino-Japanese War and World War II during the 1930s and 1940s. At war's end, with Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
's Communist armies poised to take over, the family escaped to Hong Kong, then Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, and, in 1958, when Katherine Young was 57 years old, immigrated to the United States, settling in the California charter city
Charter city
A charter city is a city in which the governing system is defined by the city's own charter document rather than by state, provincial, regional or national laws. In locations where city charters are allowed by law, a city can adopt or modify its organizing charter by decision of its administration...
of Palo Alto, along the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
.
In 1998, aged 97, and having served as president of the Rose Club in Palo Alto's Lytton Gardens Senior Communities, she decided to try something new and signed up for the retirement community's 12-week computer class which aimed to teach seniors how to use WebTV. By the conclusion of these sessions, she was logging on and became an activist for the cause of encouraging elders to use the Internet. A Pew Internet and American Life Project
Pew Research Center
The Pew Research Center is an American think tank organization based in Washington, D.C. that provides information on issues, attitudes and trends shaping the United States and the world. The Center and its projects receive funding from The Pew Charitable Trusts. In 1990, Donald S...
study showed that only 18% of Americans 65 and older get online, as opposed to 58% of the American population as a whole.
Five years later, on her 102nd birthday, she became a celebrity for being the oldest person to surf the Internet. She was feted with numerous birthday emails and an emailed sonogram
Obstetric ultrasonography
Obstetric sonography is the application of medical ultrasonography to obstetrics, in which sonography is used to visualize the embryo or foetus in its mother's uterus...
of her great-grandson, who was born in August 2003. She studied Chinese genealogy
Genealogy
Genealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members...
on Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
and, having been Rose Club president for 16 years, researched roses. She used email to communicate with her ten grandchildren and told reporters she checks for new messages as many as six times a day. From her apartment, she accessed the Internet via MSN TV (formerly WebTV) Internet service provider. Microsoft recognized her achievement and gave her a golden lifetime subscription.
Katherine Young died in Palo Alto almost six months past her 104th birthday. It has been noted that although she was considered the oldest known living user of the Internet, Audrey Stubbart
Audrey Stubbart
Audrey Stubbart was an American centenarian who worked as a proofreader and newspaper columnist for The Independence Examiner until the age of 105...
who, until very shortly before her death five years earlier, in 2000, at age 105, was a columnist, copyeditor and proofreader for the Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
newspaper Independence Examiner, used the then-early Internet at a slightly more-advanced age.