HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The wood-frame home where a Mississippi washerwoman lived as she scrimped to create a scholarship fund has been moved to a museum district honoring African American accomplishments.
The Hattiesburg home of the late Oseola McCarty was placed in a tax sale in 2017. The local convention commission bought it with the plan of creating a museum honoring McCarty, The Hattiesburg American reported.
McCarty attended school until the sixth grade and washed clothes for a living, saving money to help students needing financial assistance.
McCarty was 91 when she died in 1999. She left about $150,000 to the University of Southern Mississippi, and the Oseola McCarty Endowed Scholarship was named in her honor.
Late last month, her home was moved a few blocks from Miller Street to Sixth Street, where it will be between the Eureka School and African American Military History Museum.
"We realized that we were going to lose something that, for a very modest amount for our community, we could preserve and recognize someone who became well-known on the international stage for their selfless act," said Rick Taylor, executive director of the Hattiesburg Convention Commission.
"So we seized the moment and acquired the house."
McCarty's home will undergo restoration and renovation before it will be opened to the public. A timeline has not yet been set.