McCarty, Oseola –
Philanthropist
Learned From Humble Beginnings
Prepared to Leave a Legacy
Elevated to Celebrity Status
Gift Became Reality
Sources
Oseola McCarty, a quiet, thoughtful woman from Hattiesburg, Mississippi dropped out of school in the sixth grade to care for her sick aunt and grandmother. From that point on and for the next 78 years, she spent her life doing other people&#x;s laundry using only a large pot and a scrub board and never revealing a secret. She never left the home she was raised in, never married and had children, and never learned to drive because she was content with what she had and where she was. In July of McCarty, then 87 years old, rose from obscurity and sparked national attention because her generosity touched the hearts of so many people.
What could this unassuming washerwoman give that would cause so many people to sit up and take notice to the degree that they have? Only her life savings. McCarty donated $,&#x;most of the money she earned in her lifetime&#x;to the University of Southern Mississippi to fund scholarships for black students. She did this, in part, as preparation for her death. She told Rick Bragg in his Pulitzer Pri
Oseola McCarty
Feb. 22, , Oral History Interview
(Shana Walton, interviewer)
Excerpts from Original Electronic Text at the Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage, University of Southern Mississippi.
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Born in , Oseola McCarty was an African-American woman who grew up in southern Mississippi, living with her grandmother and aunt. She left school in the sixth grade to care for her aunt who was recovering from surgery. McCarty did not marry nor have any children. She studied hairdressing but worked as a washerwoman until she was in her 80s, living very frugally. Despite her limited income, she saved so much money that she was able to donate $, to the University of Southern Mississippi in to establish a scholarship for needy students. - smv
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McCarty: The first time I went to school, I reckon [I was] about four or five years old. . . . The first school . . . was a little red school then. And then they built the school what's down there now. And we was going to Red Circle, they called that down on Mobile Street. . . . That was a Masonic temple, but they had us, let us go to school up there that session. . . . And they told us that if we bother an
Oseola McCarty ()
Oseola McCarty was a Mississippi philanthropist who donated most of her life savings, $,, to the University of Southern Mississippi to provide scholarships for African American students in need. A seamstress and washerwoman who was paid mostly in dollar bills and loose change her entire life, McCarty was praised for her generosity and received many awards, including an honorary degree from the university.
McCarty was born on March 7, , in Shubuta, Mississippi. She was raised in nearby Hattiesburg by her aunt and grandmother, both of whom cleaned houses, cooked, and took in washing to make money. McCarty quit school in the sixth grade in order to care for her ailing aunt, and she took over the domestic work that she would do for the rest of her life. McCarty, who never married and had no children, lived frugally in a house without air conditioning. She never had a car or learned to drive, so she walked everywhere, including the grocery store that was one mile from her home. Her thriftiness would become legendary: she cut the toes out of shoes that did not fit right, and she bound her well-worn Bible with Scotch tape.
When she was eight years old, McCarty open
Oseola McCarty
Oseola McCarty, photo by Nancy Jacobs
Major Works
- Simple Wisdom for Rich Living
Biography of Oseola McCarty
by Tolitha Clark (SHS)
In many ways Oseola McCarty is different from the other Mississippi writers presented in this project. For one thing, she was unable because of family circumstances to get a formal education beyond the sixth grade. Her aunt became ill and to help with family finances, Oseola McCarty quit school to help make ends meet. She never was able to go back . However, this amazing lady, who lives today in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, was recently awarded an honorary doctorate by Harvard University for her interest in giving others the opportunity for the education that she never had.
Born in , Oseola McCarty worked for seventy-five years as a laundress beside her grandmother, who died in ; her mother, who died in ; and her aunt, who died in Her father had died in when she was a little girl . Alone since , Oseola McCarty continued to take in laundry until , when at the age of eighty-six, arthritis forced her to retire. All through her life she has taken pride in her work, had faith in God, and saved her money. Her philosophy for living
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