Oseola McCarty was born on March 7, 1908, in Shubuta, Mississippi, and was raised in Hattiesburg by her grandmother and aunt.
She lived humbly with them and worked while going to school. She also helped take care of her aunt, who was no longer able to walk. She had to leave school in the sixth grade and was never able to return.
When she got older and was nearing the end of her life, she decided to donate $150,000 to the University of Southern Mississippi for students who wanted to go to school and get the education that she wasn’t able to.
This gift was given in 1996, and the first recipient was Stephanie Bullock Ferguson. Now, the university has the McCarthy Scholars program to continue her legacy of giving to students seeking higher education.
Students not part of this program still learn about McCarty’s impact on the university through the classroom and while living in the dormitory named after her, like Kendall Richardson.
“She worked really hard to get money to go to university, and she was not able to go, but she used the money she gained to make a trust for other students to go instead, and they honored her with a statue and gave her an honorary diploma.”
Recently, McCarty’s house was given to the Hattiesburg Convention Commission for the Sixth Street Museum District.
In the upcoming month, her house will be open for historical tours. It can be found across the street from the African American Military History Museum, which is located downtown. The director of museums for the Sixth Street District, Latoya Norman, shared what the museum will consist of and when it will be open to the public.
“It will open as a museum on March 7, which is actually her birthday, at 11 a.m.,” Norman said. “We’re very excited because when you go inside, the house is a tribute to Miss McCarty and just the inspiration that she became when she donated the $150,000.”
“This house was moved here in the district in two thousand nineteen, and it’s always been the goal for us to open it as a museum,” she continued. “It’s open to the public, and we’ll also have people who were important in her life who will be able to speak a little bit and give reflections on her life. We’ll be able to hear from our museum designer, who designed the exhibits that you’ll see when you walk in. And of course, it’ll be open for tours that day.”
Oseola McCarty, a humble washerwoman and philanthropist, made a lasting impact on Black history and on the history of the University of Southern Mississippi.
