A Natural Born Storyteller

The Ancestors Told; The Elders Listened; We Pass it On.

Rosie Lee Durr
1928-1990 My Aunt Rosie was a natural born oral historian. She loved sharing about growing up in rural Copiah County, Mississippi, during the Great Depression. She shared the good, the bad, and the ugly about the people she loved and about herself. She didn't need prodding, she just talked.

Standing at the kitchen sink washing dishes, drinking a cup of coffee, dressed for church with the mink stole around her shoulder, rollers in her hair on the front porch, she would tell stories. A major family event or simple everyday activities would take her back. She remembered the events of her own life and she remembered the stories that had been told to her.

I think my aunt talked because she needed to talk, it was therapy for her. She didn't plan on passing the torch to the next generation but I am so pleased she shared.

Just as Aunt Rosie did, I causally pass memories to my children, nieces and nephews, hoping the names of the ancestors are remember.

Aunt Rosie and her husband Ernest Scott

Thank you, George.