75 years ago – July 26, 1951
OTTUMWA — The Humility Sisters from Ottumwa may settle down permanently in poverty-stricken Ofahoma, Mississippi. Last year, Sisters Mary Simone and Mary Muriel set up a one-room school in the back of a little Ofahoma church to help educate the children of hard-pressed African-American share-croppers who cannot send their children to public schools because of segregation laws. The project was a complete success. The sisters left for Ofahoma July 3, bolstered by the addition of four student-teachers to their teaching staff.
Difficulties in setting up a permanent school in Ofahoma are legion. The town is far into the hinterlands, with no regular bus and train connections. The people cannot afford to support a school. The children themselves must work in the fields during most of the daylight hours in the winter.
Sisters Simone and Muriel aren’t too worried over the obstacles, however. They’re confident that whatever comes, “the Lord will provide.”
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