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G R E AT G I V E R S
Oseola McCarty
From Ordinary to
Extraordinary
G R E AT G I V E R S
Oseola McCarty
Oseola McCarty’s early life was ordinary. She grew up in Hattiesburg, Miss. She was
raised by her mother and grandmother, and dropped out of school in the 6th grade to take
care of an aunt who had fallen ill. From the time she was a little girl, she worked doing
laundry and ironing for families in Hattiesburg, living frugally and saving her money.
And although she had never visited the campus of the University of
Southern Mississippi, located in her hometown, she made an extraordinary
decision: She arranged to give the bulk of her life savings—$150,000—to
the college for student scholarships. This remarkable act of selflessness
and generosity is a testament to the power of an individual, regardless
of wealth or status, to use the resources they have to help others.
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A WORKING WOMAN LEARNS TO SAVE
Oseola McCarty came from an industrious family. She recalled her
OSEOLA MCCARTY’S
EXAMPLE...
... teaches us that:
mother working very hard at multiple jobs to support her daughter, and
she herself began working while still in elementary school. Her mother
also taught her the value of saving, helping her to open a savings account
at a local bank to deposit her earnings. After McCarty left school to
take care of her sick aunt, she decided not to return because all of her
v A philanthropist is
defined as much by
their generosity as
by their means.
classmates had already moved on to higher grades. So, she kept working.
And saving.
“I put it in savings,” she said. “I never would take any of it out. I just
put it in. It just accumulated.” McCarty’s thrifty lifestyle over 75 years
of work enabled her to put away a significant amount of money. She
never owned a car and pushed her shopping cart over a mile away to
buy groceries. At the time of her retirement, she had traveled outside
of Mississippi only once, to visit Niagara Falls when she was a young
woman. She never married, had no children and lived in the simple
v Choices you make
throughout your life can
help define your giving.
v One person’s philanthropy can galvanize
tremendous generosity
in others.
house she inherited from an uncle in 1947. She lived alone since 1967,
after her grandmother, mother and aunt had all died.
INSPIRATION
Though her own schooling ended at a very young age, McCarty
recognized education as a tool to help other poor African-Americans to
improve their lives. She spent her entire working life in Hattiesburg—
her home was only a few miles from the University of Southern
Mississippi—but she had never set foot on the college campus. Still,
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it was her community’s local university and she wanted to support its
students: “I wanted to give it to the college. They used to not let colored
people go out there, but now they do, and I think they should have it.”
After giving up her own chance at receiving a public education in
order to serve others, McCarty recognized that her lifetime spent
working and saving could transform the lives of
young people who wanted to learn. “I know it
won’t be too many years before I pass on, and I
just figured the money would do them a lot more
good than it would me,” she said. “I’m too old to
“I can’t do everything. But I can
do something to help somebody.
And what I can do I will do.
I wish I could do more.”
get an education, but they can.”
ACTIONS
McCarty worked until 1994, when at 86 she
quit washing clothes due to arthritis. In the last
few years of her working life, staff at her bank
— Oseola McCarty
noticed that she was accumulating sizable savings
and helped her to invest in conservative mutual
funds and set up CDs to help her funds grow.
Bank managers also talked with her about how to
set up a trust to ensure that she would be well
taken care of in her old age, and to decide what
she wanted to happen to her estate after she died.
It was then that she voiced her wishes to pay for scholarships for financially needy African-American students at Southern Miss. After allocating
gifts to her church and some cousins, she decided to dedicate $150,000,
representing 60 percent of her life’s savings, to a scholarship fund.
In 1995 she signed a trust agreement outlining her wishes for her
estate, stating that the grant to endow the scholarship fund would be
made to the university after her death. Although these transactions are
normally kept confidential, the bank asked if they could make her gift
public, due to its uniqueness. “Well, I guess that would be all right,”
she said.
The announcement immediately caused a sensation. The pledge of
$150,000 was the largest gift Southern Miss had ever received from an
African-American donor and represented a radical departure from typical
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philanthropy. Bill Pace, the executive director of the University of
Southern Mississippi Foundation, said, “I’ve been in the business
24 years now, in private fundraising. And this is the first time I’ve
experienced anything like this from an individual who simply was not
affluent, did not have the resources and yet gave substantially. In fact,
she gave almost everything she has.”
IMPACT
McCarty’s gift surprised her with a sudden onslaught of national
and global attention. Among the many honors and recognitions inspired
by her gift:
v She traveled to the White House to meet with President Clinton
and the Congressional Black Caucus.
v She was presented with the Presidential Citizens
Medal, one of the highest civilian awards in the nation.
v She was awarded an honorary doctoral degree from
Harvard University.
v Stories about her gift were aired on every major
television network and appeared on the front page of
the New York Times.
v She carried the torch as part of the 1996 Olympics.
v She was featured on Barbara Walters’ “The 10 Most
Fascinating People of 1995.”
The story of Oseola McCarty’s gift was a tremendous
inspiration to others, and business leaders from Hattiesburg
and everyday people around the country made donations to
the Southern Miss Foundation to add to her scholarship
fund. Though McCarty’s gift was not officially made to the
University until her death in 1999, outside contributions
boosted the scholarship fund to more than $300,000,
allowing the school to make its first scholarship award in
the same year as the initial pledge.
The Oseola McCarty Scholarship Fund made its first gift of $1,000
to a graduating senior from Hattiesburg High School, Stephanie Bullock,
who calls McCarty her “honorary grandmother.” The following year,
another USM student from Hattiesburg, Carletta Barnes, was awarded
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a scholarship. It is these scholarships that McCarty said she is the most
proud of, rather than all the national honors and recognition she received
since her gift was announced.
Major philanthropists count McCarty among their role models of
generosity and self-sacrifice. In 1997, Ted Turner was so moved by
McCarty’s gift that he pledged $1 billion to United Nations relief
programs. A children’s book called The Riches of Oseola McCarty by
Evelyn Coleman was published to teach young people about the power
of philanthropy and how one person can make a lasting difference.
“I can’t do everything,” McCarty said. “But I can do something to
help somebody. And what I can do I will do. I wish I could do more.”
Selected Sources
Bragg, Rick. “All She Has, $150,000, Is Going to a University”. The New York Times, August 13, 1995.
“Stephanie Bullock Receives 1st McCarty Scholarship.” University of Southern Mississippi. 3 Aug. 1995. Web. June 7, 2010.
<http://www.usm.edu/pr/oolastep.htm>.
Wertz, Sharon. “Oseola McCarty’s Gift Keeps Right On Giving.” University of Southern Mississippi, Office of University
Communications. July 23, 1996. Web. <http://www.usm.edu/pr/oolayear.htm>.
Wertz, Sharon. “Oseola McCarty Donates $150,000 to Southern Miss.” University of Southern Mississippi, Office of University
Communications. June 26, 1995. Web. <http://www.usm.edu/pr/oola1.htm>.
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