AfroCarolina Correspondence #808
Big Findings in Little Washington
Big Findings in Little Washington
Washington, North Carolina is a small town about thirty minutes east of Greenville that sprawls along the Pamlico river which opens into the Atlantic. I found myself spending the tail end of my time in eastern North Carolina in this nostalgic town known affectionately as Little Washington, searching for the remnants of how Black folks got on during the worst of times, and created traditions & practices that would contribute to the foundation of our culture.
Believe it or not, Facebook is the reason I even thought to visit Washington. I’d stumbled across a page that highlights little known Black history facts specific to the area. One of those posts featured Miss Willie Neale Oden, a 106 year old woman known as the oldest living resident in Washington. With a twist of fate, I connected with her granddaughter and a few days later, was on my way to visit the living legend with my Grandma Ann in tow.
We initially missed the entrance to Miss Willie Neal Oden’s house. In our search for the street sign it didn’t even occur to my grandma and me that her house could be on the little dirt road beside the roadside bar covered in Trump signs. Yet it was, and us two women, one remembering a time when this could’ve been a death sentence, and the other trying to hold on to the strong curiosity that had brought us there, turned down the little dirt road hoping for the best and fearing the worst.
Thankfully Miss Oden’s house wasn’t too far down the backroad. We shortly pulled up to the white house which had a wrap-around porch littered with a few cats. We were warmly welcomed by Miss Oden’s granddaughter, Angela, who led us to Miss Oden and one of her daughters who were both seated in the kitchen. While I’d never been to this house before, the kitchen, with roosters covering the walls and a circular wooden table situated right at the front, felt familiar. Prior to arriving, Angela had told me that her grandmother didn’t hear too good so they mostly communicated with her by writing messages on small white boards. As I took a seat beside Miss Oden at her kitchen table, I handed her a gift I’d picked up on the way- a nice smelling candle and a card. She looked at me, in her satin bonnet and silver clip ons, and smiled, uttering a heartfelt “thank you”.
We spent about an hour with Miss Oden and her folks. She told us about being primarily raised by a kind aunt while her mom and dad worked in Greenville. As a sickly child in the 1920’s, Miss Oden couldn’t work in the fields with the rest of the children, and instead learned to read and make home remedies like using lettuce skins to ease high blood pressure.
At some point during the visit her daughter disappeared into another room and returned with one of Miss Oden’s most prized possessions. A photo taken of her when she was a child encased in an ovular wooden frame. In the photo, little Willie Neale wore two loose pigtails and had on a white dress with frills at the hem. Her eyes shone with pride at this piece of her history, an artifact from the ruins of the old way. Back when most food came from the front yard and getting one’s photograph taken was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Before it was time to go, I pulled out my Fujifilm instant camera for a few pictures to document the occasion. Well Miss Oden became completely enamored with the first one I took which was of her gazing at the childhood photo. I left it with her as another token of appreciation for welcoming me into her home & sharing some of her 106 year journey on this earth. On the ride home, I was struck by the beacon of history I’d come upon through Facebook of all places.
*This post was initially published on my former blog “Morning Glory Stories: Black Southern Resistance & History in the Carolinas” on July 18, 2021.