Anita Mackey

Anita Johnson Mackey (January 1, 1914 – April 16, 2024) was an American social worker and supercentenarian, who worked on numerous boards and commissions, in 1953, she became the first African-American supervisor at the VA’s Los Angeles outpatient clinic. The granddaughter of an emancipated slave, Mackey was one of eight children born to Frank Hannibal Johnson and Anna Elizabeth Ewing Johnson. Her mother died when she was ten so an older sister raised her along with their father.

After working for the American Red Cross and then the Veterans Administration, she retired from the VA in 1976. She met Queen Elizabeth II in Santa Barbara in 1983.

Awards and honors Mackey received the Santa Barbara Council on Social Services Award for Distinguished Service in 1972; she was also made an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by Andrews University, and an Honorary Member of Delta Kappa. Mackey was an active member of her Adventist church and a vegetarian. She was an extensive world traveler since she was 23, and via her church missions and travels, visited all seven continents and 130 countries.

Mackey's husband died in 1986. Her papers are at the University of California, Santa Barbara.