Oral history with Miss Oseola McCarty

              Oral history with Miss Oseola McCarty
F341.5 . M57 vol. 657
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Biography
Miss Oseola McCarty was born on March 7, 1908, in Wayne County, Mississippi, near the town of Shubuta, the only child of Lucy McCarty. She was raised by her maternal grandmother, Julia Smith McCarty. About 1916 the family moved to Hattiesburg where her grandmother purchased a seven- acre truck farm, which supplied not only much of the family's food but also a surplus that they exchanged at the local store. McCarty attended Eureka Elementary School until the sixth grade when she dropped out to care for an aunt who was ill. She never married nor had children. Since the deaths of her grandmother in 1944, her mother in 1964, and her aunt in 1967, she has lived by herself in the family home.
While still in school, McCarty began washing and ironing clothing and continued until her retirement in December 1994, at the age of 86. The bulk of the money she earned was deposited into various Hattiesburg banks, as were the inheritances she received from her mother and her aunt. During this time, McCarty has always lived simply, never learning to drive and walking everywhere she goes. Only recently she replaced her old black- and- white television set and bought an air conditioner, which she only uses when she has guests.
On July 26, 1995, McCarty donated $ 150,000 to the University of Southern Mississippi to establish the endowed Oseola McCarty Scholarship for needy students, with preference to African Americans. The first recipient was Stephanie Bullock, a Hattiesburg High School honor graduate.
McCarty's generosity sparked a great deal of attention. She has received more than forty honors including the Presidential Citizens medal, the nation's second- highest civilian honor; the Wallenberg Humanitarian Award; the Community Heroes Award of the National Urban League; the Avicenna Medal, presented by UNESCO; the Harriett Tubman Award of the Magnolia Bar Association; the Premier Black Woman of Courage Award of the National Federation of Black Women Business Owners; and an honorary doctor of humane letters degree from Harvard University. She has given numerous radio, television, and news magazine interviews, including an appearance on the David Letterman show. On December 31, 1996, she pushed the button in Times Square at midnight on New Year's Eve to drop the ball at One Times Square. mus- coh. mccartyo. doc Page 1 of 96