Annie Lee Cooper was a civil rights activist, who dedicated most of her life to fighting for justice in a society filled with discrimination and prejudice. Cooper had limited education as she dropped out of school while in the seventh grade (twelve-thirteen years old). She lived in Kentucky until she was 52, when she returned to her home state of Alabama to care for her elderly mother, while also working as a nurse. At the time, the civil rights movement in the United States was growing.