A Hardworking Woman of the South

by Lindsey Irby

A “blast from the past” was heard when I asked with my grandmother about her struggles in life throughout the years. I always knew she was a hard-working woman, but I never knew what a strong independent Southern person she really is. My grandmother’s name is Frances Irby, but I call her Granny. She resides in Pinebluff, but she was born in Kannapolis. The experiences and accomplishments she has achieved are unfathomable, and I admire her determination to achieve her goals. She shows all characteristics of a person from the South, and she has had very difficult experiences throughout her life.

First, as I asked many questions during the interview, I was absolutely intrigued by the hardships that her mother, three sisters, and one brother had to overcome. She explained, “Because there was very little money for medical treatment, my mother doctored us with folk lore medicines and techniques that she learned from her mother. For example, when one of us had a cold, she treated us with cough syrup she made by boiling wild cherry bark, a bud of mullin stalk, sugar and lemon juice. She treated us with croup or chest congestion by making a solution of kerosene, camphor, and turpentine and applying it to the chest area, and also covering the chest with a piece of outing flannel and kept us in bed or in a warm room.” Her father and mother divorced when she was six years old. While being the oldest was tough, she still had time to bring her vivid imaginations to life. As a child, Granny and her siblings would use bricks as cars and build a track to race them. “We would dig under roots and go over them, and we would remember exactly which brick was ours. We would rip up old cloths and make a playhouse with the pieces. We were all creative, and people nowadays have lost that sense of creativeness,” she said. Her mother, my great grandmother named Annie Morgan, was a single woman who was looked down upon for being divorced. “My mother had to learn to be both mother and father to all of us. She had to assume total responsibility for caring for the farm animals, gardening, and other activities that were considered to be male chores, such as building pig pens and chicken coops which she learned to do on her own.” My granny had to learn to be a responsible, determined woman at a very young age. I could see the remembrance of her past bringing a sense of a bittersweet happiness to her eyes.

Secondly, Granny stopped going to school after the ninth grade. “Education was not pushed or thought about because we were poor, but my mother wanted us to finish high school, even though none of us did. As I worked jobs that made little pay, I decided one day that I was not going to live like that for the rest of my life.” She later got her GED and completed her master’s degree. She has been a registered nurse, a nurse in the emergency room, and a member of a psychiatric unit. Also, she has taught nursing students since 1982. She was the director of nursing, and division chair of health science at Richmond Community College. My granny achieved many more accomplishments, but none of them would have happened if she had not gone to college. Granny is now retired with Social Security and state retirement, and she still teaches clinical once a week. She is completely satisfied with her life. She has no financial problems, and every accomplishment she has earned will never be taken away from her. “Education is the key to having a great life, and nobody can ever take your education away from you. You can have a million dollars and it be gone in a blink of an eye, but you will never ever lose your education.” My granny’s words of wisdom really motivate me to achieve whatever I want to do and stretch my limitations to the maximum while doing so.

Furthermore, I asked her about Southern culture and characteristics of the people in the South. She stated, “People from the South are at a slower pace than people up North. They would push and shove to get on a train up there and not have any manners about it. Southern people stop to talk to you, even though they do not know you. Manners are another thing you will find in the South. Many people are involved in church, and integrity is important to them. Honesty is very important, and I believe us all to be hard workers. Homemade specialties and recipes are passed down from generation to generation, and you can only find that in the South. Also, family is most important to me.” Then I asked what her expectations were for our family’s traits and she replied, “Helping each other, always being reliable, honest, caring, hard working, to have manners, respect, and to have an education.” She has been through a tremendous amount of trials and hardships, but she has surpassed every single one of them. I think that is the best Southern trait ever.

In conclusion, my granny is absolutely amazing. I have learned so much, and I am completely captivated by the struggles that my granny has overcome. She transformed from being a poor, uneducated, Southern farm girl to an independent, educated, strong Southern woman. She shows true Southern culture. I now have stories to pass on to my children in the future about how wonderful their great grandmother was and pass on some of her hard-working Southern skills to them. No matter how impossible a task can seem, my Southern roots have taught me that anything can be conquered with a little hard work.

Work Cited

Irby, Frances. Personal interview. 30 May 2010.


Note: Lindsey Irby, who is pursuing an associate of science degree at Sandhills Community Community and plans to transfer to N.C. State University, wrote this paper for HUM 122.