Page 53: Excerpt from A Nickel and a Prayer
It was while in the Rutledge household that it occurred to me that only the select lived hidden in the evergreens, amid beautiful gardens of flowers. I began to understand how wonderfully Nature had endowed the earth, and how a skilled landscape artist could assist Nature so to charm the human eye by a touch of cultivation. In the parks with the children I saw great oaks, the graceful elms draped in moss; the palm tree from which the palmetto fan is derived, and from which South Carolina takes it name, “The Palmetto State.” How wonderfully fragrant were the magnolia trees with their white blossoms, the harbinger to the southerner that springtime has come.
Like Paul the apostle I considered myself fortunate, indeed, to be in the “Big House” on the front, sharing these bounties with the family. As I grew older, the thought often ran through my mind whether the other servants downstairs in the rear of the mansion saw and appreciated these scenes of beauty, and enjoyed the peace of the God-made trees, as I was privileged to enjoy them.
The Rutledges paid me better wages, which helped to send Rebecca to Ferguson and Williams College. Rosa was given the job I once had at the school; and now that my sisters were under the influence of the Williams, I could go ahead with my own ambitions. Mrs. Ella Hunt, an influential Negro woman, took an interest in me. With her suggestions I applied for admission to the Cannon Street Hospital and Training
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Hunter, Jane Edna. A Nickel and a Prayer. 2nd edition. Nashville: Elli Kani Publishing Co., 1941.
It was while in the Rutledge household that it occurred to me that only the select lived hidden in the evergreens, amid beautiful gardens of flowers. I began to understand how wonderfully Nature had endowed the earth, and how a skilled landscape artist could assist Nature so to charm the human eye by a touch of cultivation. In the parks with the children I saw great oaks, the graceful elms draped in moss; the palm tree from which the palmetto fan is derived, and from which South Carolina takes it name, “The Palmetto State.” How wonderfully fragrant were the magnolia trees with their white blossoms, the harbinger to the southerner that springtime has come.
Like Paul the apostle I considered myself fortunate, indeed, to be in the “Big House” on the front, sharing these bounties with the family. As I grew older, the thought often ran through my mind whether the other servants downstairs in the rear of the mansion saw and appreciated these scenes of beauty, and enjoyed the peace of the God-made trees, as I was privileged to enjoy them.
The Rutledges paid me better wages, which helped to send Rebecca to Ferguson and Williams College. Rosa was given the job I once had at the school; and now that my sisters were under the influence of the Williams, I could go ahead with my own ambitions. Mrs. Ella Hunt, an influential Negro woman, took an interest in me. With her suggestions I applied for admission to the Cannon Street Hospital and Training
(<<<previous) (next>>>)
Hunter, Jane Edna. A Nickel and a Prayer. 2nd edition. Nashville: Elli Kani Publishing Co., 1941.
© 2009 Jane Edna Hunter Project
