MY AMERICA STORY BOOK She used to sit at the open door of her office, in a calico gown and a little shawl, and give a good word to everybody, rich or poor. Then, by and by, one day, Margaret died. And when it was time to read her will, the people found that with all her giving, she had still saved a great deal of money, and that she had left every cent of it to the different orphan asylums of the city — each one of them was given something. Whether they were for white children or black, for Jews, Catholics, or Protestants, made no difference; for Margaret always said, “They are all orphans alike.” And just think, dears, that splendid, wise will was signed with a cross instead of a name, for Margaret had never learned to read or write! When the people of New Orleans knew that Margaret was dead, they said, “She was a mother to the motherless; she was a friend to those who had no friends; she had wisdom greater than schools can teach; we will not let her memory go from us.” So they made a statue of her, just as she used to look, sitting in her own office door, or driving in her own little cart. And there it stands today, in memory of the great love and the great power of plain Margaret Haughery, of New Orleans.
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