One of the stories that have inspired me most is that of Oseola Mccarty, who was a local washerwoman in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. She grew up in great adversity and led a very austere life. 86. McCarty's grandmother died in 1944, her mother in 1964, and her aunt in 1967. When she was in sixth grade, her aunt was hospitalised and she quit school to look after her aunt. After her aunts death she took up the same profession her grandmother had been in and became a washerwoman, which she continued for the rest of her life. Day after day, for most of her 87 years, she took in bundles of dirty clothes and made them clean and neat for parties she never attended, weddings to which she was never invited, graduations she never saw. McCarty never got married or had children.
She would go to the local Bank every day and deposit these little nickels and coins that she make out of her daily laundry work at the bank. This continued for days, months, years and decades. Finally her savings had accumulated to make up a large sum. When the bank employee told her that she had a quarter of million dollars in her account, she couldn’t even comprehend how much it was. He put ten times on the table and told her that this represented her money. She asked him to set aside one dime (10%) for her church, one dime (10%) each for three relatives. With the remaining six dimes she set up a scholarship that amounted to $150,000 at the University of Southern Mississippi for poor Afro-American students who could otherwise not attend the university due to financial hardships. Soon after the university announced the bequest, more than 600 people contributed a total of $330,000 so that the college could immediately start awarding McCarty grants. Since then, with the help of funds from McCarty's estate and through prudent investments, the endowment has grown to nearly $700,000.
