The Washerwoman Who Gave Everything
Oseola McCarty stood just five feet tall and barely weighed 100 pounds—but her legacy is bigger than most could ever imagine.
She left school in the sixth grade. Not because she wanted to, but because her grandmother—the woman raising her—fell ill. “I would have gone back,” Oseola said quietly, “but my classmates had moved on, and I was too old. I wanted to be with them.”
So instead of finishing her education, she worked.
She washed clothes by hand for families in her Mississippi town—scrubbing, rinsing, hanging, folding. Day after day. Year after year. And every month, she set aside a portion of her earnings. “The same amount, every time. I was consistent.”
She lived simply. No luxuries. No car. No vacations. Just faith, purpose, and a quiet determination to save.
By the time she was in her late 80s, Oseola McCarty had saved far more than she ever needed for herself. And in 1995, she made a decision that stunned the world.
She gave away $300,000—nearly her entire life savings—to the University of Southern Mississippi, her hometown college, to create a scholarship fund for students in need.
“I wanted to share my wealth with the children,” she said, humbly.
Oseola never returned to school. That remained her one real regret. “I never minded work,” she explained, “but I was always so busy. Maybe I can help make it easier for the children, so they don’t have to work as hard as I did.”
And with that gift—quiet, unexpected, generous beyond words—she changed countless lives.
She may not have worn a cap and gown, but Miss McCarty taught the world a lesson that can’t be found in any textbook:
Greatness isn’t measured by how much you earn—
But by how much you give.
