Released: September 21, 1995

MISS MCCARTY GOES TO WASHINGTON

HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Hattiesburg laundry woman Oseola McCarty boarded a train here Thursday for a trip to Washington, where she was to be honored by President Bill Clinton and the Congressional Black Caucus.

The 87-year-old woman -- whose $150,000 donation to The University of Southern Mississippi from her life's savings has sparked national attention during the past month -- boarded the north-bound Amtrak about 9:20 a.m. for the 24-hour journey. Miss McCarty, who declined an invitation to go by plane, was accompanied by Mary McCarty, a 50-year-old cousin from Shubuta and a high school social studies teacher in Waynesboro.

"I'm just tickled to death," McCarty said while waiting at the Hattiesburg train station, noting it was her first trip out of the South since a visit to Niagara Falls more than 50 years ago.

McCarty will sit with President Clinton Saturday at a 7 p.m. dinner of the Congressional Black Caucus at the Washington Convention Center, according to New Jersey lawyer and businessman Lewis Katz, who helped organize the trip. She will receive a presidential citation from Clinton Monday at the White House.

The story of McCarty -- an elderly black woman who washed and ironed other people's clothes for three-quarters of a century before arthritis forced her into retirement just last year -- has sparked national media attention since her $150,000 gift to The University of Southern Mississippi was announced in late July.

McCarty's donation, drawn from her life's savings, established an endowed Oseola McCarty Scholarship, with "priority consideration given to those deserving African-American students enrolling at The University of Southern Mississippi who clearly demonstrate a financial need."

"I want to help somebody's child go to college," said the quiet-spoken McCarty, a sixth-grade dropout who has never married and has no children. "I just want it to go to someone who will appreciate it and learn. I'm old and I'm not going to live always."

In early August, Stephanie Bullock, an 18-year-old Hattiesburg High School honor graduate, was designated as the first scholarship recipient, getting $1,000 to help launch her college studies at Southern Miss this fall. When she met McCarty for the first time, she threw her arms around the woman's neck and whispered, "Thank you so much."

The gift and dizzying media blitz that followed created a domino effect on the hearts and pocketbooks of people nationwide, and a group of local business people launched a private fund-raising campaign to match the donation.

Contributions began pouring in from scattered locations across the nation to the Southern Miss Foundation, which administers the scholarship fund, and more than $65,000 had been raised as of mid-September.

Although McCarty has resided less than three miles away from the Hattiesburg university for most of her life, she visited the campus for the first time Aug. 29. She received a 30-second standing ovation from about 1,000 faculty and staff when she was introduced by Southern Miss President Aubrey K. Lucas.

Lucas also presented McCarty with a framed letter from President Clinton, lauding her generosity.

"Hillary and I were moved by your gift to The University of Southern Mississippi. Your unselfish deed is a remarkable example of the spirit and ingenuity that made America great," the letter read in part.

Earlier in the day, she had met in Jackson, Miss., with Pat Fordice, the wife of Mississippi Gov. Kirk Fordice. Two days later, McCarty was introduced to more than 30,000 cheering fans at the university's season-opening football game. On Sept. 10, the Hattiesburg community celebrated "Oseola McCarty Day."

McCarty's lined, brown hands, now gnarled with arthritis, bear mute testimony to a lifetime spent washing and ironing other's people clothes. Her gift astounded even those who thought they knew her well.

The customers, black and white, who have brought their washing and ironing to her home for more than 75 years included three generations of some families. Initially, she said, she charged $1.50 to $2 a bundle -- but, with inflation, the price rose.

"When I started making $10 a bundle -- I don't remember when... sometime after the war -- I commenced to save money," recalled McCarty, who was born in Wayne County, Miss., on March 7, 1908, but moved to Hattiesburg when she was very young. "I put it in savings. I never would take any of it out. It just accumulated."

Actually, she started saving much earlier. While attending Eureka Elementary School and after dropping out in the sixth grade, she worked and began saving money in a local bank.

"The teller told me it would be best to put it in a savings account," she recalled. "I didn't know. I just kept on saving."

As her savings mounted over the years, McCarty washed and ironed and lived frugally. She never learned to drive a car and still walks everywhere she goes, pushing a shopping cart more than a mile to a neighborhood grocery store.

Her grandmother died in 1944, her mother died in 1964, her aunt died in 1967, leaving her alone. Her mother and aunt each left her some money, which she added to her savings. In 1947, her uncle left her the modest, wood-frame house in which she still lives.

During the course of a recent interview by a reporter from People Magazine, McCarty was asked why she didn't spend the money earned over a lifetime on herself.

"I am spending it on myself," she answered, smiling.

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