Sadie and Bessie Delany

Sarah Louise "Sadie" Delany (September 19, 1889 – January 25, 1999) and Annie Elizabeth "Bessie" Delany (September 3, 1891- September 25, 1995) were American authors and civil rights pioneers.

Sadie, the older of the two, was the first African American woman ever to be allowed to teach Domestic Science in the state of New York. Her sister Bessie was the second black woman to be granted a dentistry license in New York state. While these two positions awarded the sisters freedom from persecution in the workplace, it wasn't until the early 1990s, when both were over 100 years old, that they gained fame.

In 1992, the two sisters collaborated with Amy Hill Hearth on a book called "Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years", which dealt with the trials and tribulations the sisters had faced during their century of life. The book was highly successful on the bestseller charts, and even spawned a Broadway play. In 1999 the movie "" aired on television. It was directed by Lynne Littman with Diahann Carroll as Sadie and Ruby Dee as Bessie.

"Miss Bessie" and "Miss Sadie" as they were lovingly known by neighbors and acquaintances, lived in Mount Vernon, NY for a large portion of their adult lives.

In 1994 with "The Delany Sisters' Book of Everyday Wisdom" was published as a follow up to "Having Our Say." After Bessie's death in 1995 at age 104, Sadie wrote another book called "On My Own At 107: Reflections on Life Without Bessie", dealing with the loss of her sister. Sadie died at the age of 109 in 1999.

The sisters were included in the "Guinness Book of World Records" in 1993 as the world's oldest authors.

The sisters were the aunts of science fiction author Samuel R. Delany, the son of their youngest brother Sam (1906-63).Their father The Right Reverend Henry Beard Delany (1856-1928) was, in the full description they liked to use, "the first elected Negro bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church.

"When Negroes are average, they fail, unless they are very, very lucky. Now, if you're average and white, honey, you can go far. Just look at Dan Quayle. If that boy was colored he'd be washing dishes somewhere. -Annie Elizabeth Delany, "Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years", 1993