LAURINBURG — Annie Louise Scott Pate, better known by many as Mama Lou, shares a birthday with the late Martin Luther King Jr. — though three years difference. And on Saturday, while the world will be celebrating MLK’s 93rd birthday, those closer to home will be celebrating Mama Lou’s 90th.
She was was born to Annie Pearl Scott and Alexander Scott in Laurinburg on Jan. 15, 1932, and Laurinburg remained her lifelong home — now filled with 90 years of memories.
“I recall when I was a very young child, 3 or 4 years old, I often accompanied my father to the store where he made purchases,” she wrote in a 2012 memoir. “In that store, there was a jukebox and I loved to dance. When someone would play a record on that jukebox, I automatically began to dance. I danced and danced and danced all over that store.
“My dancing was so inspiring, that people in the store would stop their shopping to watch me dance and because I entertained them so much, they would give me nickels and dimes just to see me dance,” wrote Mama Lou, who grew up in a home of eight children. “That was indeed an exciting part of my young life. I will never forget that experience and I enjoyed being with my father.”
But if there was an even more exciting time in Mama Lou’s life, it came with the start of school.
“I was excited, knowing that I would be attending school like the bigger kids,” she wrote.
“The first school I attended was Laurinburg Institute. It was a segregated school for Black children with a campus that included grades first through the 12th grade. There was an elementary and a high school on the campus.
“I remember some of my teachers’ names — Mrs. Ziegler (taught third grade), Mrs. Pru, Professor Johnson,” she added. “Johnson High School in Laurinburg is named after Professor Johnson. When a child acted up in class, Mrs. Ziegler would pull that child by the ear all around the class. She never had to pull me by the ear.
“I loved attending school,” she said.
By the time Mama Lou turned 12, she was already beginning a job.
Her stepfather John Allen, who worked in a dry-cleaning business, helped her get an after-school job, which involved helping Mary Dubose, “a white lady who owned a rooming house in Laurinburg.” She would go there after school and help with things like getting and carrying the sheets when she changed the linen on the beds.
“She only rented to men and a married couple,” Mama Lou wrote. “This job afforded me the opportunity to make some extra money after school. Mary Dubose was a very generous woman who actually wanted to adopt me.”
Just a few years later, the little girl of Laurinburg was about to make a big decision — about which she wrote:
“When I was 16 years of age, I met this former soldier who had recently gotten out of the Army. His name was Martin Pate Jr. and his nickname was June Pate. One day I was walking from my job at the rooming house on Main Street in Laurinburg back to Dixon Street. He asked if he could walk me home. I told him no, but he did it anyway. This is how I met him.
“He started coming by my mama’s house and we started dating. I guess I fell in love, because the next thing I knew, I was married. June Pate and I were married on Sept. 12, 1948, by a justice of the peace in Bennettsville, South Carolina. Our witnesses for our marriage were Nellie Mae (June’s sister) and James (Tuttebug) Cummings. It did not cost but $15 to get married. We did not have a honeymoon.
“Our marriage produced 10 children: Mildred Louise Pate (now Solluna Moyoah); Patricia Ann Pate [Goodman] ; Martin Pate III; Calvin Pate; Wanda Pate [Jones]; Nellie Pate; Angelo Pate; Ray Thomas Pate; Gloria Jean Pate; and Cynthia Denise Pate [Ball], all born in Laurinburg. However, after my last child was born, Martin and I separated, and I raised my children as a homemaker and a single parent.
“Throughout my parenting years, I always felt good about raising my family. I organized my children in such a manner that the older children were responsible for the younger ones. We were not rich money wise, but we were rich in love, togetherness, in honesty and in fairness.”
Although motherhood took much of her time, Mama Lou did find time to become part of a small women’s social club, called The Willing Workers and she was the secretary. The group would host regular meetings at each other’s homes — some of the members she recalled included Willie Mae Mason (president), Nezerene Wright, Addie Bell McLean, Carrie Lee Chapman. During those meetings, the women would meet and discuss various issues that impacted them as well as play games like bingo.
The group was also a savings club, where the members paid dues and had activities to raise money such as selling sandwiches. At the end of the year, the women would divide the money to purchase Christmas gifts for family and friends — as well as hold a Christmas party.
“I also earned additional money by performing housekeeping chores for the Williamsons and Haneys in Laurinburg for over 30 years,” she wrote. “I remember earning at first about $3 per day and $15 per week. I worked a schedule so I could be home when my children got home from school.
“I was paid minimum wage when it became law,” she added. “Sometimes Mrs. Williamson paid more than the minimum wage and gave us hand-me-downs for my children. The Williamsons were also one of the few who paid Social Security for their maid.”
Looking back over her life, Mama Lou can point to one area that shines brighter than the rest: her children.
“My children were determined to do great things with their lives,” she said. “Solluna (Mildred) attended Howard University in Washington, D.C., and is a certified massage therapist and holistic healer living in San Diego; Patricia is a retired from the telecommunications industry; Martin III retired from the US Army as a command sergeant major and currently works at Fort Meade, Maryland; Calvin served in the Air Force and is a warehouse supervisor; Wanda is a regional director for the National Labor Relations Board in Denver, Colorado; Dee (Nellie) retired as a teacher and educator in Scotland County for 30-plus years; Angelo lives in Maryland and is a skilled repairman; Ray Thomas, who also served in the Army, lives in Honolulu, Hawaii, and is a technician with Air Liquide America; Gloria Jean is a senior flight attendant for US Airways; and Cynthia attended accounting school in Charlotte.”
Mama Lou retired when when was 62. Following her retirement, spent time traveling and visiting her children, 20 grandchildren, 27 great-grandchildren and 17 great-great-grandchildren.
But there are still things she has wanted to do.
“Two things are on my ‘bucket list’ as things I did not do, but would like to do,” she said. “First, be on the Oprah Show and second, meet President Barack Obama.”
Looking more in-depth over the years …
“One of the most important lessons that I tried to teach my children was honesty – to be honest to themselves and to others,” she wrote in her memoir. “I also taught them to treat others with kindness and to treat others the same as how they would like to be treated themselves. It was important to me that they learn the value of education and hard work – ‘God blesses the child who has his own.’
“I used to tell mostly to the girls – ‘don’t take no wooden nickels’ and not to let the boys fool them,” she added. “In other words, I was telling them that it was OK to listen, but they need to think for themselves and not to let anyone take advantage of them.“
If Mama Lou were to wrap it all up with a big bow, she did so at the conclusion of her memoir.
“I would like to be remembered as a person who always tried to be fair to everyone and that I had compassion for others,” she wrote.
Such a life and such words bring back the memory of Martin Luther King Jr.
W. Curt Vincent can be reached at 910-506-3023 or cvincent@laurinburgexch.wpenginepowered.com.