McCarty Scholarship History

My mother, Sara Wilkins McCarty Thompson Warren thought education was very important. She decided to do something about it! In July of 1982 when she started to receive Social Security, she would take a portion of each check and put it in a special fund. She previously asked her cousins, James Benjamin “Ben” McCarty, Jr. and John Barcroft McCarty, for permission to start a scholarship fund in honor of their mother, Clara Stover McCarty. Both readily agreed, and the “Clara S. McCarty Scholarship Fund” was born.

Clara S. McCarty, my mother’s Aunt Clara, had been an educator and had even run a small private school from her home, Waverly, in Delaplane, Va. My maternal grandmother was Edith Montz McCarty. She was the wife of Richard Henry McCarty, Sr. and had been a teacher, as had my other great aunts, Elizabeth Locke McCarty, wife of Dennis D. McCarty and Elsie Ribble McCarty, wife of John Daniel “Jack” McCarty.

In the Fall of 1991, when Edith McCarty died, my mother decided to change name of “The Clara S. McCarty Scholarship” to ”The McCarty Scholarship” to honor all four of the women of that generation and future McCarty generations of educators. In fact, Margaret (Peggy) Delaplane McCarty, wife of Richard Henry McCarty, Jr. was also a teacher.

To supplement the monthly deposit from Social Security funds, we collected aluminum cans and recycled them at Zuckerman Metals in Front Royal, VA. Several people from church would help out, bringing bags of cans to our house. In fact, there used to be an occasional mention of the aluminum can project in the monthly newsletter.

Knowledge opens doors and helps create new opportunities. A single idea joined with action can create miracles. I invite anyone who has received scholarship funds to “play it forward”. (I received a grant from the Henry O. Joesting Fund and have periodically contributed to the McCarty Scholarship Fund”.)